Harry Potter: The Next Generation
by Charlotte of Sandydowns
Summary: It's Abbie Longbottom's and Albus Potter's first year at Hogwarts. Seeing as Hogwarts is a school of magic, they expect it to be an exciting year. But with Courtney befriending them, a mysterious girl who has a big secret, their first year could be more unexpected than any of the Potters, Scamanders, Weasleys, a Longbottom and maybe even a Malfoy could ever have expected.
1. The Sorting Ceremony

**A/N: This is my first ever Fan Fiction! Yay! So this story is basically about the kids of Harry/Ginny/Ron/Hermione/Draco etc. when they're at Hogwarts. Just saying, some of the characters are my own creations and do not follow J.K.R's family trees, for instance in this story Neville and Luna are married. So anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my story, I'll update as often as I can, (I can't guarantee how often that will be) and, um, yeah enjoy it! :D**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own J.K Rowling's work or any of her characters, or anything else. This story is completely non-profit.**

 ** _Chapter one:_**

 ** _The Sorting Ceremony_**

Eleven-year-old Abbie Longbottom jumped excitedly onto the scarlet steam train, her red pigtails bouncing about on her shoulders. This was it! She was finally going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! She waved enthusiastically to her mum, Luna, who was gracefully smiling and waving back, her long, blonde hair flowing out behind her. Abbie's father, Neville, taught Herbology at Hogwarts, so he was in the teachers' carriage of the train.

Once platform nine-and-three-quarters had sped out of view, Abbie entered the hall, which was filled with the sound of chattering children who hadn't found a compartment to sit in yet.

Over the top of all the chatter, she heard a very familiar voice chanting, "You're going to be in Slytherin! You're going to be in Slytherin!" Abbie's heart leapt as she recognized the voice of one of her very best friends, James.

"Oh, shut up! I will not be!"

James was obviously teasing his younger brother, Albus, about what house he'd be sorted into. James himself was thirteen, a third year, and in Gryffindor. Abbie ran (which was hard with all the people standing around in the thin hall) to where their voices were coming from.

"Oh, Hi, Abbie!" Albus replied, as Abbie sat down.

"Hi!" James grinned. He had a naughty smile and scruffy black hair.

"So!" Abbie leaned forward. "I hear someone will be in Slytherin?" She sarcastically questioned, tilting her head to one side. Albus shifted in his seat and his ears turned pink. Albus looked a lot like his brother, except he didn't wear glasses and his hair sat in its place, not sticking up at the back. James was rolling about laughing. Abbie sat upright again, smiling.

"I was joking! I've heard that you do have some say in the house you're put in, so you obviously won't be in any house you don't want to be in." Albus looked relieved, but his ears still hadn't changed colour.

At that moment, the doors slid open and three people came in: Nicole Scamander, a third-year girl with wavy, shoulder-length hair (James sat up a bit straighter when she walked in), Rose Weasley, (also a third-year, and the Potter's cousin) who had lots of red, curly hair, and another girl who none of them had seen before. The new girl had straight black hair in a neat plait, and a kind smile on her face. Nicole sat next to James and introduced the girl to them.

"Hey, guys! This is Courtney. She's a first year. Can she sit with us?"

Instantly, James agreed, and the others nodded in agreement, too.

"How've you been, Rose?" Abbie asked happily. She loved being with her friends again.

"I've been good. Hugo was in an awful temper this morning. He wanted to come too. Of course, he's still ten like Lily," Rose replied, sighing at the thought of her little brother. James nodded and added, "Lily's nine, actually. Well, almost ten. She hasn't been very happy, either. She hates that this year she won't have Albus or me to run around with now that we're both going to Hogwarts."

"I have a sister. She's in sixth year at Hogwarts," Nicole informed Courtney. "Her name's Helena. We're really close!"

The talk continued, and everyone in the compartment felt content.

The train had started zooming past wild forests and bush land when the Trolley Lady, a short old woman with flyaway grey hair, slid open the compartment door.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" She asked feebly, as though she had asked the question hundreds of times (which Abbie thought she probably had). Albus and James instantly jumped up.

"Chocolate frogs!" ordered James.

"Pack of Droobles and a chocolate cauldron, please?" asked Albus, a lot more politely that his wildly grinning brother.

Abbie asked if she could share the chocolate frogs James had ordered. After all, he did get far too many, but he refused. Abbie shared Courtney's chocolate wands instead. Abbie noticed that James offered Nicole _six_ of his twenty six chocolate frogs. Rose rolled her eyes and winked at Abbie.

Courtney and Abbie were fast friends by the time they reached Hogwarts. They talked merrily as they walked slowly away from the platform. They waved goodbye to Rose, Nicole and James, (because they were third years, they rode the horseless carriages up to the castle) and walked towards the looming figure of Hagrid, the gamekeeper.

Hagrid smiled down at them through his beard.

"All righ', Abbie, Albus? An' who's yeh new friend?" Hagrid boomed.

"This is Courtney, Hagrid," replied Albus. Hagrid nodded, and then started to shout, "Firs' years, this way! C'mon, now! Don' want to be left behind, do ya?"

All of the first years followed Hagrid to the huge black lake. Abbie shivered. Her dad, Neville, had told her to be careful of a giant squid that lurked in the depth of that icy cold water…

The students jumped into hundreds of boats that bobbed on the surface of the glassy water, three to a boat with one holding a lantern. The small, wooden boats sailed smoothly without any steering. Abbie strongly suspected magic was behind this. Soon, the little wooden boats bumped softly against the dock, creating small waves on the surface of the water.

Abbie and Courtney ran to catch up with Albus, who had been in a different boat. When they reached him Abbie whispered, "Isn't it amazing?" Albus looked up at the vast castle the girl was looking at. It had big turrets and towers, and a huge forest bordered one side. Abbie's mum had told her about how fantastic the castle of Hogwarts was, but never had Abbie imagined something so magnificent!

Albus shrugged, "Oh, it's just a bunch of rubble. I wanna get inside!"

"It is not a bunch of rubble! Why'd you say that?" exclaimed Abbie.

"Er, that's what James told me it was like after his first year... But I guess it is pretty cool!" Albus grinned.

"C'mon now! Move along!" Hagrid's voice came from right behind them, making the three kids jump.

"Isn't it fantastic?" Hagrid bent down and muttered to Albus, Abbie and Courtney.

"You bet! Lucky you, being able to live here…" Courtney murmured. Abbie thought that she must be thinking of her home, because her eyes were glazed and she had a slight frown on her face.

All the students filed into the huge castle, too filled with awe to talk. Professor McGonagall stood in front of the Great Hall doors explaining that the students would be sorted into Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. She then swung open the doors behind her, and the sorting began!

"Good luck, Abbie!"

"Good luck!"

"Let's hope you don't get Slytherin!"

All of Abbie's friends encouraged her as she made her way to The Stool at the front of the line of students.

Siting on the stood, Abbie felt slightly terrified as McGonagall placed the tatty black Sorting Hat on Abbie's head.

Darkness.

Silence.

A booming voice, (bigger and wiser than Hagrid's) and excitement as without a hesitation Abbie Longbottom was placed in Gryffindor.

As she slipped off the stool and headed to the Gryffindor table, Abbie heard Courtney's name being called out: "Courtney West, please!" Professor McGonagall announced.

Sitting down between Albus (thankfully in the same house) and James (who was paying no attention to the Sorting, as he was in the middle of a conversation with Nicole), Abbie watched excitedly. Something strange happened when the hat fell over Courtney's eyes. The Sorting Hat gasped, 'hmmm-ed' and announced, after the longest pause yet,

"Sly- Gryffindor!"

There was a murmur of confusion, then a roar of cheering from Gryffindor house.

Smiling, (though was that worry upon her face?) Courtney squeezed next to Abbie. The sorting finished, and everyone expected the feast to begin. But instead, a magical, humongous ribbon curled out in midair in front of the teacher's table. Then, Professor Flitwick stood up.

"We will now sing the Hogwarts song. Choose whatever tune you like!"

Then, to all the first years' amusement, (and to James's embarrassment) words scrawled themselves along the ribbon and all the students and teachers alike began to sing:

 _Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot._

The students cheered and the first years laughed, though James exclaimed, "Finally it's over! Such an embarrassment to the school having to sing that…" Albus laughed at his brother's 'stupidity' "It's just a bit of fun!" he exclaimed. "Besides, you didn't even sing!"

James glared at his brother. "I did sing it! I just sang so softly and quickly you didn't notice!"

Now Professor McGonagall stood up and she announced, "Now that we have finished the Hogwarts Song, let the feast begin!"

Now James whooped, and Albus slapped his hand over his brother's mouth. "Shut up, you'll embarrass yourself more than the song did!"

Luckily, the feast distracted both boys from the argument that was sure to come. As food appeared on the plates, an audible "Wow!" came from every first year. It's true, the feast wowed everyone. The students, the teachers, and even the caretaker!

But, if the students thought that their dinner was good, the dessert was nothing compared! Pudding, trifle, ice cream, cake, jam doughnuts, crème caramels, chocolate and other delicious delicacies appeared after the dinner. Everyone ate and ate until they had stomach aches! Then the students stood up and followed the prefects to their common rooms. Teddy Lupin (godson of Harry Potter and a prefect) told them the password to get in. Then, the first-years managed to make it to bed, before they fell asleep, dreaming about the moving staircases and talkative portraits.

Abbie woke up early the next day to find that one of the dormitory beds was empty. As she made her way downstairs, she found Courtney sitting in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the fire.

"Hey!" Abbie exclaimed, sitting next to her friend. Courtney jumped, obviously in her own world.

"Oh, hi Abbie… Err, nice sleep?" Courtney somehow seemed uncomfortable.

"Yeah I slept fine… Whatcha doing up so early?"

Courtney shifted in her seat choosing her words carefully.

"I guess I… Um…"

Abbie didn't know what to think. Courtney seemed to be hiding something. That was for sure.

"Abbie, I…"

At that moment, Albus wandered down looking extremely tired.

"I… Have to go to the bathroom…" Standing up, Courtney dashed out of the portrait hole, the way out of the common room.

"Albus! She was about to tell me something!" Abbie scowled.

"How was I to know? Anyway, when's breakfast?"


	2. Teachers and Class Rooms

**A/N: Here's the second chapter to my story! First I'd like to say thank you to Trista Liu, eremak and my sister (Tari Oronra) for favouriting my story, and thanks to my sister for also reviewing. I can't believe I've only written one chapter and already 3 people like it! So in this chapter Abbie, Albus and Courtney have some lessons! And we find out a bit about Courtney's family... So I hope you enjoy it and feel free to review and tell me if I can improve in any way. I'm open to suggestions! :D**

 ** _Chapter Two:_**

 ** _Teachers and Class Rooms_**

The room was dark and cold with slippery brick walls and an unfriendly feeling about it. After all, it was the dungeons. The room was filled with cheerful chatter though, which made Abbie and Albus feel a lot less terrified of what would come of their first lesson, Potions. Courtney didn't seem worried at all. She was calm, and looked around the room with interest.

At that moment, the door was flung open and a man with blonde hair and a pale face strutted in. A Slytherin boy at the front of the class smirked. The man with the blonde hair, who everyone suspected was their potions teacher, spun around to face the class.

"Welcome to your first Potions lesson. In my class you will put your hand up if you wish to ask a question and will follow every instruction I give you," he drawled. The Slytherin in the front row grinned at the teacher.

"My name is Professor D. Malfoy. You will call me Professor Malfoy." As Professor Malfoy spoke, his eyes wandered over the class, staying for a long time on that Slytherin boy in the front…

By the end of the class, it was clear that Professor Malfoy approved of cheating and favouritism. Well, only the Slytherin boy was allowed to cheat and only the professor himself was allowed to use favouritism!

Albus for the first time agreed with James when he said, "Malfoy is a dung beetle brain!" No one though seemed to hate the professor more than Courtney.

"He's foul and an idiot! Did you see how he looked at Scorpius?" Courtney asked Abbie after their first class. They were on their way across the Hogwarts grounds towards the greenhouses for Herbology.

"Pardon? What's Scorpius?" Abbie replied, confused.

"Malfoy's son. Didn't you see the way he smirked at Scorpius when he got something right?"

Abbie was stunned. She spoke her thoughts. "How did you know Malfoy has a son, let alone what his name is?"

Courtney answered by shouting, "Race you to the green house!"

Confused, Abbie decided to let it go, and ran after her friend to the greenhouse.

The greenhouse was a big contrast to the Potions class room. The sun was shining through the glass walls making it cheerfully warm, all sorts of plants were growing out of pots, and, best of all in Abbie's opinion, Neville Longbottom was standing at the back of the greenhouse, smiling at the first years.

"I am dreading this lesson," muttered Albus, as he stepped into the warm greenhouse behind Courtney and Abbie, who were puffing from their race.

"Why?" puffed Abbie.

"Because mum requested that after the first class I tell Neville she sends him her love. I mean, I can't send a professor my love! I told James to do it for me but he refused…"

Abbie laughed at her friend, and then a hush fell over the students as Neville welcomed the class.

"Welcome students, to your first Herbology class. Today I will teach you about many different plants and their uses. I'm sorry but it isn't a practical class today…"

The dreaded moment had come. Albus was going red in the face as the other students began filing out of the greenhouse. Abbie hung back to say hi to her dad, and so went up with Albus to where her dad was watering some plants.

"Hi Dad! Awesome class!"

"Oh, hi Abbie! And Albus! I'm glad you enjoyed it!"

"Ummm… Neville…?"

"Yes, Albus?"

"My mum wanted me to tell you…"

"Yes?"

"Thatshesendsyouherlove…"

"Pardon?"

Abbie began laughing hysterically. Albus hadn't seemed at all embarrassed to tell _her_ why he had been dreading the class! And now he was carrying on as though he expected Neville to blow up, or laugh at him. Neville looked at Abbie slightly disapprovingly as she laughed, but a smile was playing around the edges of his lips. Albus looked extremely uncomfortable which made Abbie laugh even harder until she was as red as her friend.

"What is the matter? Albus what did your mum want you to tell me?" Neville asked. He sounded slightly amused.

"Oh James you idiotic brother! Why did you have to be stupid and say that you wouldn't do it? Why do I have to do your dirty work?" yelled Albus, throwing his arms in the air. Abbie laughed harder. She thought it was very funny that Albus was getting so worked up about such a little thing.

"Albus! That is not necessary! Just tell me what the matter is!" Neville exclaimed incredulously.

"Okay! Okay okay okay FINE! I'll say. She wanted ME… Argh why me? So she wanted ME to tell YOU… Or, Neville she said… So she wanted ME to tell YOU that she… That she… That she… SENDS YOU HER LOVE! There! I said it! I'm leaving!"

Abbie wouldn't be surprised if smoke came out of Albus's ears as he spoke these final words. She had finally stopped laughing and was now looking at her dad, wondering what his reaction would be.

"That was it?" Neville murmured. "That was all he had to say?"

Abbie nodded. She watched Albus stalk away through the glass walls of the greenhouse. He had broken into a run on his way up to the castle.

"Okay, I'd better go! See you Dad!" And with a wave of her hand, Abbie was gone.

Neville shook his head and chuckled. How he loved working at Hogwarts! Not only did he get to do his favourite thing in the world, teach Herbology, he also got to work with kids who always seemed to give him a laugh. Those Potter boys were so funny, he thought to himself as he began to tidy up. He was glad that his daughter could have such great friends here at Hogwarts…

Abbie found herself sitting in the Gryffindor common room with Albus, James, Rose, Nicole and Courtney that afternoon. Their classes were finished for the day and they were all feeling very happy and contented. Abbie had told James and Rose about the happenings at Herbology. Of course, James wouldn't stop teasing Albus after that. The latter stated that at times like these, he wished he had an Invisibility Cloak. Abbie excitedly tried to pursue this topic: She was fascinated with Invisibility Cloaks! But James hurriedly changed the topic to Quidditch.

James and Rose loved Quidditch. They were both on the House Team. Nicole was on the house team too, though wasn't as good as Rose and James. Abbie and Albus liked it too. Whenever they visited each other's houses they'd fly on the brooms their family had. Neither had a broom of their own, unlike those of the House Team, though. Abbie had always thought herself a good flyer… until she had seen James fly. He was absolutely amazing at Quidditch. Not only had his dad given him his own Firebolt, (one of the fastest flying brooms) he had also given his son talent. Harry Potter had been one of the best flyers at Hogwarts when he was a kid, and James certainly was now.

For a while, they all talked happily about Quidditch. But after some time Courtney got bored of the subject. She didn't mind watching Quidditch, but she didn't like playing it. The subject changed to family. Abbie, Rose, Nicole and the two Potter boys talked Courtney's ears off with information about their parents. After a while, though, they stopped and asked Courtney questions.

"Do you have any siblings, Courtney?" Rose asked, stopping all of the others from talking.

"Yes, I have a brother," Courtney absently replied.

"How old is he?" Abbie asked curiously. None of them had heard anything about Courtney's family before.

"He's twelve," Courtney answered. She didn't seem in the mood for talking, but she patiently answered their questions.

"What does he look like? What's his name? Do you get along?" Albus bombarded.

"Umm well he eats a lot of sweets and so I guess he's a bit fat… No, we don't get along, he's not very nice to be honest… Er, his name? Ah… His name is… Bob. Yeah, Bob."

"Bob?" James echoed. "Bob? What a pathetic name!"

"Don't be harsh, James!" exclaimed Nicole, though she was smiling at him fondly

"Yeah well…" Courtney shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She felt hot, and didn't like all these people, even if they were her friends, staring at her.

"What about your parents? What are they like? What are their names?" Albus asked.

Courtney's eyes flickered up to him. Before now she had been staring at her hands in her lap. "My… My parents? I don't… Well… Well who cares about _them_? Let's go outside! I need some fresh air…"

Albus blinked at her. "Who cares?" he repeated confusedly.

James and Nicole looked at each other, the same look of puzzlement on their faces. Abbie stood up, the first to move. "Okay! To the grounds we go! Let's do some exploring! I want to check out that forest…"

The others agreed and the all went outside. While James and Albus bickered about whether or not there were werewolves or not in the Forbidden Forrest, Courtney stood silently beside them. When Abbie and Rose chatted about the beautiful Black Lake, Courtney did not join in. As Nicole tried to calm down Albus and James's argument, Abbie wondered if she was the only one who noticed that something was wrong with Courtney, or if the others just weren't showing it.


	3. Conversations by the Fireside

**A/N: Chapter three of Harry Potter: The Next Generation! So for this chapter we hear into James's thoughts and hear a little bit about Teddy Lupin. J.K. Rowling has said that he isn't affected by lycanthropy. In my story he WAS bitten by a werewolf. When he was eight. But you'll find more out when you read it! Also, if you're wondering why I'm updating so quickly it's because I've already typed out a lot of chapters and I'm just copying and pasting them here. So after a while the updates will probably come a bit slower. And if you have any questions or would like to make a suggestion please review:)Okay, Enjoy!**

 _ **Chapter Three:**_

 _ **Conversations by the Fireside**_

Life at Hogwarts was good, thought James. He got to do all his favourite things. He could play Quidditch, he could eat as much as he wanted, he could sit about in the Gryffindor common room for hours at a time on weekends, and he could talk to Nicole as much as he wanted, though now Albus was at school he probably wouldn't get as much time to himself. All in all, though, life was good!

The only downside to Hogwarts, of course, were the classes. He didn't mind some of them, like Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Divination, Care of Magical Creatures, History of Magic and almost every other class he hated. Who cares what unicorns like to eat? Who cares what happens when Mars and Jupiter can both be seen in the sky together? And who _cares_ about Goblin Rebellions? James certainly didn't. He certainly DID care, though, when he was given homework. That was another thing he hated about Hogwarts. The work load always seemed to be huge. But usually he could find someone to copy the work off. Of course he didn't tell his dad any of these things. His dad, Harry Potter, was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, and a very good teacher at that. He also was an Auror. In the summer holidays and occasionally on weekends Harry would fight and catch dark wizards. Though there weren't very many seeing as all of the Death Eaters were either dead or in Azkaban. Harry was a wonderful person, but he didn't tolerate students copying. Not that he didn't copy off others when he was a kid. James knew perfectly well that his dad and Rose's dad, Ron Weasley, often copied off Hermione, Rose's mum.

James's mum had been a good student. She had never gotten into detention, and she never copied off anyone else's work. Thinking about his mum made James think about his little sister, Lily. She was nine, almost ten years old and was itching to go to Hogwarts. James grinned thinking about her. She was so funny and cute… But he would never let anyone hear him say that. Usually he pretended she was annoying.

James's mind wandered to one of his best friends, Teddy. Well, that wasn't his real name. But everyone seemed to call him that. Teddy's real name was Edward Remus Lupin. Teddy was two years older than James, and the Gryffindor prefect. James guessed that Teddy would become Head Boy one day… James's dad was Teddy's godfather. Many years ago in the battle of Hogwarts Teddy's parents had died fighting for the school. So now the boy came over to the Potter's house almost every day for dinner, and slept over every three weeks. Teddy was a quiet boy, and he had had quite a terrific past. His father had been a werewolf, but a great person. Teddy was also both of these things. He had gotten bitten by a werewolf when he was eight. It was very traumatic for a boy of his age to be a werewolf, but he managed to work through it. He was also a Metamorphmagus like his mother was, meaning that he could change his appearance at will. James hoped that Teddy would be able to stay over in the summer holidays again like he had last holidays…

"James! James! Come on the class is over!"

James felt someone shaking him roughly. He opened his eyes. Whoops. Looked like he had fallen asleep during Charms. Oh well, if they had any homework he could see if Rose (who had stopped shaking him) would let him copy off her… She was a very good student. If she didn't let him copy off her, Nicole surely would…

"Yeah I'm coming…" James yawned widely as he grabbed his books. He stood up and left the classroom slowly and tiredly.

"That was a record, Rose…" he murmured absentmindedly.

"What was?"

"I slept through a whole class! I've only ever managed to sleep through half a class before!"

Nicole, who had caught up with them, was laughing. "I suppose you want to copy off someone's work?" she asked. James nodded.

"Well you're not copying off mine! You've done enough cheating over the past three years as it is!" scolded Rose. She ran ahead, probably wanting to go to the library to do some studying.

"You can copy mine, James! But maybe don't tell Rose," Nicole said airily.

"Thanks!"

As soon as they reached the common room, ("green frog" said Nicole. That was the password to get in) James sat down in the most comfortable arm chair and fell asleep once more…

* * *

Two hours later, James was woken up again. This time, though, it was by accident. Or so it seemed at first. James was rudely awoken by his younger brother and Abbie, who were singing a song at the top of their voices. If James was grumpy at being woken up, he was very annoyed to hear what they were singing, for it was about dinner.

James sat up and grumbled, "Wassamata?" As he realised what the two younger kids were singing, he jumped up, startled.

 _We had pudding! We had pudding! We had pudding at di-i-nner!_

 _But James wasn't there, he slept through it all!_

 _And so he missed out on pu-dding!_

A dance went along with the song. It seemed Abbie and Albus had practiced it over their dinner time. They sang the short song several times, and when they saw that James was awake, they danced in front of him, waving their arms and jumping up and down.

"Hey! What're you singing about? I missed dinner?" James shouted angrily.

"James missed out on pu-dding!" the younger students sang.

"Oh! Come _off it_! Why didn't you wake me up?" James was standing now, glowering down on Abbie and Albus, who were still singing and now laughing as well. He looked over at Nicole, who muttered, "I thought you'd wake up in time for dinner…"

James shook his head, knowing he would get no more information out of the two rascals who were dancing before him. He stormed up to bed early, his stomach grumbling loudly and as angrily as James himself.

Back in the common room, Abbie and Albus were still laughing at James.

"Did you see his face?"

"He likes his food too much!"

"He's so funny!"

"I guess, but mostly annoying. He's annoying at home, anyway!"

"That's why you don't share a room, right?"

"Exactly."

Tired out from their singing, the children sat down in the two comfiest chairs near the fire, one of which James had been asleep in minutes before. Courtney, who had been silently giggling in a corner, sat down with them, too.

"So you don't share a room with James?" Courtney asked Albus.

"Nope. Dad says me and James will share a room only when he wants the house demolished!" replied Albus, grinning cheekily. "What about you? Do you share a room with Bob?"

Courtney blinked for a moment, almost as though trying to figure out who Bob was. Then she laughed at the question and shook her head. "No way! He hates me! And V…-I mean dad and mum- would never let me anyway!" She smiled and tried to cover up her stumble with her words. The other two didn't seem to notice, though.

"I don't have any siblings," Abbie said, "My friends do keep me company, though." Here, Abbie smiled at Albus, who often came to stay at her house with James and Lily.

"Hey, Courtney! You should ask your parents if you could come and stay in the holidays! We could all go to the Potters' or the Weasleys', or my house! That would be SO cool!" Abbie's blue eyes sparkled with excitement as she spoke, hoping for a simple 'sure!' from Courtney.

Courtney suddenly looked sad, though. "Well… I dunno if I'd be allowed… My parents don't like me saying at other people's houses…"

Abbie's happy face didn't change at all. She happily exclaimed, "Well you could come and visit for a day!"

Courtney even shook her head at this, "No… My parents don't like, I mean, I don't think I'm allowed to visit friends… Like, at all…"

Silence. Abbie and Albus stared at Courtney, completely confused. "Then… how do you keep in contact with your other friends? Do you write owls or something?" Albus asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Ha! Owl them? I don't have an owl, and there's no way I'd be allowed to borrow B…er-mum's owl! Besides, I don't need to. My friends are all, well… you guys are my only friends," Courtney murmured.

"What-?" said Abbie.

"Huh?" said Albus.

 _How could Courtney have no friends, apart from us?_ The two of them were thinking.

Finally, Abbie spoke again.

"Courtney, is there something you aren't telling us? About your family, as in?"

Courtney's eyes didn't meet Abbie's when she replied. "N-no… of-of course not! I-er-I mean…about my family? Well-I-I'm sure that- that I- that I'm… tired. I'm going to go to bed. G'night guys!" And with that, she was gone, scurrying up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.

Abbie and Albus watched her go. It was a while before either spoke. At last, Albus muttered, "That was weird… But Abbie, you shouldn't ask stuff like that! I don't want her thinking we suspect her for something awful! She might not want to be our friend, and if it's true that we're her _only_ friends, then she won't have _any_ friends! Except for Rose and James, and she doesn't want to hang out with them all the time. That would be torture!"

Abbie agreed and apologized. A while later, they both went to bed.


	4. A Series of Events

**A/N: This chapter has quite a variety of things going on in it from Quidditch to classes, so I didn't really know what to call it. I ended up coming up with 'A Series of Events' because that's exactly what it is. I probably won't be able to post many chapters from Monday onwards what with school, but I'll try to post some in the afternoons. I really hope you're enjoying the story. If anyone has any suggestions about what could happen or how I could improve, please review and tell me. Thank you to all readers!**

 ** _Chapter four:_**

 ** _A Series of Events_**

The next morning was beautiful. The sun was shining, despite the slight chill in the air. Gryffindor tower was completely empty of first years this morning, even though it was still very early. The green grass crackled and flattened under the many pairs of shoes which were walking, running, racing and skipping over it. The feet made their ways noisily towards the Quidditch pitch, which was a few minutes' walk from the castle of Hogwarts.

The first years' moods were all quite different. Abbie and Albus were two of the many students who were skipping as fast as they could toward the Quidditch Pitch. Courtney walked, smiling and laughing at her two friends, but had no particular enthusiasm about her. Dominique Weasley, (Rose's cousin) however, was moving her feet as slowly as possible. Her reason was simple: she loved watching Quidditch, but when it came to playing it… "Let's just say"- she told her class mates-"that mixing me with a broom is a worse idea than making friends with a giant! Sorry, Hagrid…" (Hagrid happened to be a half giant, and Dominique, who was quite fond of him, felt it necessary to apologize. Even if he wasn't within ear shot.)

The first year students were heading to their very first Quidditch lesson and Abbie and Albus could not wait. In fact, they were so desperate to get to the lesson that they were several metres ahead of their fellow students! After a short walk, ("That took forever!" said Albus) they reached the Pitch.

Dominique certainly brightened up as she waved enthusiastically at the teacher, who was standing in the middle of the Quidditch Pitch. Many of the students (now adults) who had fought in the Battle of Hogwarts had been sad to leave. They had loved the school so much that many of them had grown up and become Hogwarts professors, such as Harry Potter and Malfoy. Here was another case: Dominique's uncle, George, was teaching Quidditch. He had been a beater in his time at Hogwarts. When he wasn't teaching, (Quidditch lessons were only once every two weeks) he ran a joke shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Sometimes his younger brother (and Rose's dad), Ron, would come and help. The Weasley's family was certainly very huge. Every second Gryffindor seemed to have a last name of Weasley.

George waved happily at his niece, and at the whole class, too. He really was a very friendly man. Albus and Abbie sped up and soon were panting next to their professor.

"I…I…won!" panted Abbie, completely out of breath.

"No! No, you… you didn't… Abbie, I… I won!" panted Albus.

"No you…you did not… Professor… who… won? Who… got... here first?"

George laughed and replied, "I think that you both won! Good work!"

Abbie and Albus laughed, still out of breath. The rest of the Gryffindors soon arrived. Then the lesson began.

"Alright, I've got some brooms here. There should be enough for all of you… ahh who are we missing? Oh that's right, you're having the class with the Slytherins! Isn't that a treat? Ahahaha! I'm joking! Why I have to teach those rat-bags I don't know… Oh, here they come now!" George pointed and sure enough a group of children clad in green and silver were making their way over.

Nobody noticed Courtney stick out her tongue at a boy in the front of the Slytherin group when they got nearer. Nobody even noticed him stick his tongue back at her, then turn and laugh with a boy behind him. Courtney looked away, annoyed at the boy's laughter. She would get him back for it… soon…

The Slytherins entered the Quidditch Pitch, and stood next to a broom. The brooms were neatly set in rows for the students to stand next to.

"Okay, when you are ready, I want you to- hey, Mr. Malfoy! You will use the broom you are standing next to! No, I don't care if it is slower than Miss Vane's! As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, you will hold your hand out over the broom next to you and command it to fly up, like this: Up!" A broom that had been next to George flew up into the air and into his hand. He watched proudly as some of the Gryffindor first years got their brooms up the first try. He shook his head and scowled when he saw that Mr. Malfoy had gotten his on the first try.

Abbie's broom jumped into her hand on her second try. She was very pleased with herself, and clapped for Albus when she saw that he was holding his broom after his first try. It took Courtney several times to get her broom into her hand. The three of them stood there, slightly over balanced as they grasped their brooms with one hand, watching and waiting. Once all the students were holding a broom, (Abbie noticed some of the students who had been struggling had just picked their brooms up off the ground) George instructed, "Mount your brooms and kick hard off the ground when I instruct so. _Yes_ Mr. Malfoy?" George added, for the boy who had been fighting over which broom he wanted had stuck his hand in the air. He pushed forward to the front of the group of Slytherins.

Abbie scowled. It was that boy that Courtney said was called Scorpius! He had blonde hair and a pointed face. His blue eyes fixed momentarily on Courtney before flickering back to George.

"I was just wondering… _Professor_. Why can't first years be on the house Quidditch team? I mean, _surely_ if they had the skill, they'd be let on?" Scorpius drawled, a smirk not unlike the one his father, Professor Malfoy, wore whenever he looked at Scorpius, was forming on his lips.

"Well, _Mr. Malfoy_ ," George incredulously said, speaking slowly and clearly as though Scorpius was stupid, "on some rare occasions Quidditch captains will let first or second year students who are talented _and_ spirited on the team. But this is very rare, even for Purebloods, because captains usually like bigger built and more experienced players. They all want that Quidditch cup and they won't settle for lousy players. Now I hope that satisfies your answer!"

Scorpius smirked as a reply, and stepped back to his place in the bunch of Slytherin students who had started fighting over brooms again. George ignored them.

"Ready to kick off everybody? HA! I see the Gryffindors are! Let's hear it for Gryffindor! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now, kick off!" George was undoubtedly as pro-Gryffindor as Professor Malfoy was Pro-Slytherin. He certainly, at any rate, favoured the Gryffindor students.

Albus and Abbie raced each other around the Quidditch pitch. Both had flown before, and were quite good. Abbie's hair fanned out behind her as she lay low on her broom, trying to beat Albus. But Albus had the talent of flying in his blood, and soon had overtaken Abbie for good. Courtney flew a few metres below them, flying messily. She wasn't a very good flyer and that was obvious. She wasn't falling off, so by the looks of it she _had_ flown a broom before.

"How're you hanging out, Courtney?" Albus called from above her.

"Alright! I don't need to ask how you are hanging out though! You're so good at flying! Looks like you're having a blast, Albus!" Courtney replied, laughing. While she was looking up at Albus, she swerved on her broom by accident. She let out a cry of 'Whoa!' before spinning upside-down on her broom. Abbie shouted out to Courtney, but it was too late. Before anyone could do a thing, Courtney was falling from her broom and toward the ground. Abbie and Albus instinctively dived after her, though there was nothing they could do. Trying to block out the sound of the Slytherin's laughs and jeers, the three first years plummeted toward the ground, two on brooms and one not. Abbie saw the ground fly rapidly closer. She had to pull out of the dive! She would land herself in the hospital wing if she didn't! Abbie pulled up on her broom and hovered two or three meters off the ground, panting. Looking down, she saw something that surprised and shocked her. Courtney _and_ Albus were lying on the ground next to each other, apparently unconscious. The broom Albus had been using was broken and splintered on top of him. A trickle of blood was coming from Courtney's lip.

Abbie jumped straight from her broom onto the ground, hurting her ankle. But she didn't care. She instantly ran to her two friends and bent down to them. She vaguely saw George sprint over and kneel next to her.

"Nasty fall… Very nasty fall… You and Albus shouldn't have flown after her, though, there was nothing you could have done. And you see what happened to poor Albus…" George murmured sadly to Abbie.

"What did Al do? I pulled out of my dive and didn't see," Abbie asked uncertainly.

"He tried to stop her from falling by catching hold of her. An impossible feat really… But it was really kind of him to try. He grabbed her arm to try and pull her onto his broom or something, I don't really know his plan. But of course she was too heavy for him, and he had let go of his broom to grab her. Dear, dear… Could you help me escort them to the hospital wind, Abbie?" George pulled his eyes away from the pair of injured children in front of him and looked over at Abbie, who agreed to his suggestion instantly.

"The rest of you, stay here! And I mean it! I'll be back to finish the lesson soon," George instructed the rest of the class who, Abbie realised, had all landed on the grass. Some of them (mostly Gryffindors) were looking worried and whispering among themselves. The Slytherins, however, were laughing and mimicking the event that had just occurred. Abbie glared at a girl who had straight-ironed hair in two plaits. She was pretending to fall off an imaginary broom, but with very over-the-top actions. Abbie felt like hexing the girl when the girl pretended to vomit, her tongue out and her eyes crossed.

The journey back to the castle was long and silent. It was long because, even with the help of each other, Courtney and Albus were very hard to carry between Abbie and George. The latter were silent because they were too deep in thought to speak. When they finally reached the castle, George called Professor McGonagall to come and help them. McGonagall used a simple spell to lift the two children out of George and Abbie's grip and floated them the rest of the way to the hospital wing. Abbie wanted to stay and see her two friends when they regained consciousness, but George pulled her away, saying that they had a Quidditch class to finish.

The rest of the lesson was, in Abbie's opinion, rather boring without Albus and Courtney. George seemed a bit downhearted that Albus wasn't there to give points to just because he flew faster than a Slytherin, or because he did a spectacular dive or something. Albus was, after all, the best Gryffindor in the class without a doubt. However Abbie was displeased to see, as she sped in circles around the Quidditch pitch, that Scorpius was a good flyer, too. She glared at him as he streaked past her, a blur of green and silver. Suspiciously, she caught up with him and peered at his broom. It definitely was a different broom than the one he had started with…

Abbie looked down. George was scolding a small Slytherin boy with mousy hair for something. Abbie couldn't hear the conversation, but it appeared that George had not yet realised what Scorpius had done. So Abbie took the matter into her own hands.

"Hey! You nicked that broom from George! That's his broom, not yours! I can tell because it's a Nimbus 2000 and you had a CleanSweep 360 before! Get off it right now before I push you off! Go on! Get your own broom!" Abbie yelled at Scorpius angrily. Scorpius only smirked and replied in an evil tone, "Come on, then. Try me!" With that, he sped off around the Quidditch pitch again.

Abbie glared after him, annoyed at his nerve. She thought about telling George. She could let him handle it, he would probably dock about fifty points from him… Yes, that was probably the best way to deal with it. But Abbie had no intention of agreeing with her thoughts at all. Scorpius would probably laugh at her, saying she was the teacher's pet, or that she was too scared to go chasing after him. Breathing hard, Abbie sped off around the pitch, trying to catch up with that Nimbus before he said, or did, something terrible.

"Is it true, Miss Longbottom, that you tried to push Scorpius here, _my_ son, off his broom?" drawled Mr. Malfoy.

"No, I didn't try and knock him off _his_ broom. I tried to knock him off Professor _Weasley's_ broom. Scorpius stole it." Abbie glared at her potions teacher, trying to imagine what would happen if she decided to Transfigure him into a Puffskine. She decided that it was not worth the points that would be taken off her.

"It doesn't matter whose broom is was _Longbottom_. It only matters that you tried to knock him off," replied Mr. Malfoy. "Now, can you tell me? Do you now know why I am putting you in detention? You didn't seem to think you had done anything wrong when you first entered my office…" Scorpius smirked from beside his father. Abbie wished he wouldn't look at her as though she had just done something extremely stupid.

"Well if it wasn't for you, strutting into the grounds to see how your dear ickle Scorpius was, you wouldn't have seen me shove him and so I wouldn't be in detention! Anyway, where'd the ' _Miss' Longbottom_ go?" Abbie's voice rose slightly, and Mr. Malfoy tutted, shaking his head.

"You'll want to contain that temper of yours. And I'd still like to see you at five 'o'clock in my office, tomorrow night. Good day to you, _Miss_ Longbottom.

Scowling, Abbie retreated from the office as fast as she could. She wasn't jumping at the thought of detention at all, and, seeing as she had a free period now, she decided to go and talk to James. James was the trouble maker of Gryffindor, so surely he had some suggestions of making her detention a bit easer…

Abbie hurried down the corridors, looking for James everywhere. She looked in all the likely places: the library, the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, the Gryffindor Common room and the Quidditch Pitch but still couldn't find him. Downhearted, she decided to go to the hospital wing to check on Albus and Courtney. Without her friends around, Abbie felt quite lost at Hogwarts.


	5. Harry's Class

**A/N: Chapter five of Harry Potter: The Next Generation! I hope you've all been enjoying the story so far! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in ages! :( I've been kept busy with school work and stuff... But I'm hoping to post a few chappies today:D**

 **Oh yes, I'm quite new to this whole world of fanfiction, so it would be great if someone could review and tell me what AU means? Thank you! ^_^ Meeeeeow!**

 **Okay I'll let you read my story now ;D**

 _ **Chapter Five:**_

 _ **Harry's Class**_

"WHAT? You're in detention with _Malfoy_? Already?"

Abbie was sitting on Courtney's bed in the hospital wing. Courtney was lying down, though her eyes were fixed on Abbie, taking in every word she said. Courtney had broken some ribs, and she hurt terribly when she moved. Albus, however, was sitting up, staring incredulously at Abbie. He had only been knocked unconscious, and broken his nose (thanks to his broomstick landing on his face). Madam Pomfrey the Second, the young witch who had been the Healer at Hogwarts ever since her mother retired, wanted him to stay in his bed for only a few more hours, just to make sure his nose didn't start bleeding again.

Abbie had just told her two friends what had happened in Malfoy's office. Albus was shocked that a teacher could be so harsh. "You must've done something pretty bad to land yourself in detention so soon…" Albus muttered.

"Abbie, you shouldn't go looking for trouble like that! You'll end up in a mess," exclaimed Courtney from the depths of her blankets.

"I'm not looking for trouble! Trouble just found me!" Abbie replied angrily. Albus laughed from behind her, and Abbie swung her head around to face him. "What?"

"Oh, nothing! It's alright, Abbie! It's just that that sounds like something dad would say when he's telling stories about when he was a kid: 'When I was a kid, trouble always used to find me!'" Albus tried to mimic what his dad sounded like, and failed. "Actually, maybe James would say that… No! But he would disagree! 'But Albus, trouble doesn't find me! I go looking for it!'" Albus put on a high-pitched squeaky voice to mimic his brother, and Abbie managed to smile. She was feeling pretty awful. It was only the third day at Hogwarts and already she was in detention and her two friends were in the hospital wing! She decided that she would ask Albus if he knew where James may be.

"Hey Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where James might be? I was looking for him earlier."

"James? Um… Quidditch Pitch?"

"Nope."

"Common room?"

"Not there either!"

"You know, he could be in Dad's office! Or… or maybe in Uncle George's! He could be hanging out with Fred…" Albus looked slightly worried as his mind wandered to Fred, George's son and James and Albus's cousin.

"Oh great. I hope, if he is hanging out with Fred, that they're not getting up to trouble!" Abbie exclaimed.

"Fred? Who's Fred?" Courtney asked, peering up at Abbie and Albus from beneath her blankets.

"Who's Fred? _Who's Fred?_ Honestly, haven't you met him before? He's my cousin. He and James are, like best friends. And I mean _best_ friends. They're always getting up to mischief, and sometimes try and drag me into it. Though I resist whenever I can. You know Uncle George runs a Joke Shop when he's not teaching Quidditch? Well he does, and James is always running off to it with Fred in the holidays. They usually try out new products on me to see if they work. I landed in St. Mungo's Hospital because of one of their products when I was about five. Fred still laughs about it! Though James doesn't think hurting me is very funny. Well, sometimes…" Albus's voice trailed away as Madam Pomfrey came hurrying over.

"Mr. Potter dear, let me have a look at that nose of yours!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed soothingly. Abbie noticed Albus roll his eyes, and he whined, "But you've been checking my nose for hours! It won't start bleeding again! I promise!"

Madam Pomfrey smiled at Albus and bent down to him. She spoke as though he was about three, "Now promise me, Mr. Potter, that if your nose starts bleeding again you'll come straight back. Will you promise me?"

"Yup, I'll promise!" Albus replied in a babyish voice. When the smiling witch allowed him to leave and let his side, Albus muttered, "Duh! She's a nightmare! Always breathing down my neck, 'How's your nose? How's your nose?' I mean, I only broke it! And it was fixed in about two seconds! Anyway, you coming, Abbie?"

"Yes, I'm going to let Courtney have some rest. It looks like she needs a sleep," Abbie replied quietly. Courtney had closed her eyes and was breathing smoothly and softly. Abbie and Albus crept from the hospital wing and went looking for James. They found him in Harry Potter's office. Abbie and Albus entered cautiously. They didn't want to disturb them too much just in case James was getting a telling off.

"Oh, hello Abbie, hello Al! Why don't you sit down? I was just telling James what's in store for his next Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson! And I believe you two have one of my lessons after your free period?"

"Hi, Dad," Albus replied.

"Hello Harry!" smiled Abbie. She liked Albus's dad. He was very nice.

They both sat down and listened to Harry and James's chatter for a while. Then Abbie piped up, "Oh, I wanted to talk to you James. I have a detention with Malfoy and I wanted to ask if you have any ideas of how to make it more amusing?"

"Oh yup of course I do. I've been in many detentions so listen and learn, Abbie! So the first and easiest thing to do is to not turn up. Pretend you weren't given detention! Then you could learn some good hexes and use them on the teacher, depending on who it is of course…" Here James glanced at his dad, then continued, "You could set up a diversion to get you out of it sooner than your teacher would want. That's probably the best bet for you. Fred and I can help you with that, and I'm sure that little Al would help too!" he concluded, looking at his younger brother with raised eyebrows.

"Of course I'd help Abbie! I mean, if you really want to do it," Albus added, looking over at her.

"I'll do it," Abbie confirmed definitely.

"Ok! Whenever we can find the time, me and Fred will pick up some Decoy Detonators from WWW. Yes?" James was practically glowing with the excitement of causing trouble with his cousin (and brother) again.

"Wish we could go to Hogsmead…" Albus grouched.

"What does WWW stand for? And are Decoy Detonators those horns that blow up into foul smelling smoke?" Abbie asked James. She wanted her questions answered if she was really going to do this.

"WWW stands for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. As you know George set up one in Hogsmead as well as Diagon Alley. Yes, those are Decoy Detonators. And Albus: no you can't go to Hogsmead because you're still an ickle first-year," James replied. He had used one breath to recite the first sentence and another to add the second. He had said it all very fast.

"We aren't tiny! We aren't even small! Are we, Abbie?" Albus retorted angrily. He was quite short, and was very touchy when it came to it. He was always hoping to get new school robes because it meant he had grown.

"Nope! We're not small! Well, if you're comparing us to seventh-years maybe, but that isn't a fair comparison!" Abbie shot at James.

"Now, now! Calm down everyone! And don't think I will let you do what you are scheming in another detention. Unless it's Malfoy. Then you're allowed." Harry suddenly cut in. A smile flickered over his face as he added the last bit of his spiel.

"Yeah, yeah! Well I'm going to find Fred. Catch you later, Abbie!" James waved and sped from the room. A minute later, Abbie and Albus followed suit. They headed for their Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and naturally got there before Harry. They waited with the other students for a while, before entering the classroom and sitting at the front of the class.

"Courtney's going to be so sad that she missed out on this class… She was really looking forward to it!" Albus remarked sadly.

"How'd you know?" Abbie wondered aloud.

"She told me while we were both in the hospital wing, before you arrived to see us."

"Ooh, ok."

Their conversation was cut short. Harry had just walked into the classroom. The chatter that had been filling the room a moment ago subsided, and the restless students who had been excitedly squirming had stilled.

"Welcome to your first Defence Against the Dark Arts class! I hope you will enjoy this year's work, and that you will work hard on learning your spells that you are taught. After all, practice is the key to learning defensive spells," Harry began encouragingly. "This lesson we won't be learning any spells. I'll save that for next lesson. I will be teaching you _about_ the spells," His eyes gazed around the classroom at all the students, (Gryffindor and Slytherin) and paused on Albus, whose hand was stuck in the air, waving slightly. "Yes, Al? What is it?"

"Well, I just wanted to ask, if this isn't going to be a practical lesson, please don't turn it into a history lesson because that would be so boring and I don't want to fall asleep in my dad's class," Albus seriously commented in almost one breath. A few students laughed at his question, but, apart from his ears (which had turned scarlet. This was a trait of part-Weasleys) he didn't take any notice of them and stared straight ahead at his dad. Abbie had known Albus for a long time, and, from experience, knew that he hated getting into trouble when he could help it. (Unless it was for a good cause, like Abbie's detention the following night.) She also knew that he was the peace-keeper, along with his mum Ginny, of the household. Therefore he hardly got into arguments, unless they were with James. He was also very confident when he wanted to be.

"Don't worry, son. I have had much experience with boring lessons. As a Hogwarts Student, I found History of Magic extremely tiresome. So you will be having a lot of fun in my classes, even today…" Harry added, smiling kindly at his son. Abbie glanced over at Albus and grinned at him.

* * *

Albus had been right: Courtney was extremely disappointed at missing out on, not only Defence Against the Dark Arts, but also Charms and History of Magic. After being set free from the hospital wing just after the lessons for the day were over, Courtney allowed Abbie and Albus to tell her about the classes they had had over dinner.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts is going to be great once we start the practical lessons! Harry is a great teacher! Charms is pretty cool, we're going to learn how to make things fly in a few lessons! Oh, but don't worry about missing History of Magic. It's completely boring, as Harry said it was. _And_ it's _still_ taught by that old ghost that used to teach our _parents_! I mean, that is so behind the times!" Abbie rolled her eyes as she added this last bit, and made Albus and Courtney laugh. Courtney was soon frowning, though.

"I'm just so disappointed about Defence Against the Dark Arts! I was so looking forward to it… I mean, it's the subject I've been excited about ever since I got my Hogwarts letter!" Courtney sadly remarked.

Abbie patted her shoulder. "It's ok, Courtney, there's the whole year ahead, and only one class you missed of it! But I didn't realise it meant so much to you…"Abbie looked curiously into Courtney's mysterious hazel eyes, which looked right back into Abbie's beautiful blue ones. After a moment though, they looked away towards the Great Hall doors. James, Rose and Nicole had just walked in. By the looks of it, they had been studying up until a few minutes ago. Or, rather, Rose was studying, Nicole was studying, and James was talking, daydreaming, or doodling on his paper or the corner of a library book.

Courtney waved to them, and the threesome came over quickly. They sat down opposite the first-years.

"So, you've gotten yourself out of that hospital bed?" Rose grinned, leaning over to Courtney. Her red hair, which was tied in a ponytail, (not that it really kept it out of her face, she had so much hair!) fell over her shoulder and almost fell into Courtney's half-finished soup. "Oops! Sorry!"

"That's alright. Yup, I got out. I had a few broken ribs, and was bed ridden for more time than I'd have wanted… But oh well," Courtney managed a smile.

"That's the spirit, Courtsie!" James exclaimed, clapping her shoulder. Courtney covered her face, embarrassed.

"Don't call me that, it sounds so weird! Just Courtney, or Courts ok?" Courtney asked irritably.

"Oh, sorry…"

Two Potters, a Weasley, a Longbottom and a Scamander went to bed that night exhausted. It was only then, as Abbie lay in her bed with nothing much to think about, that she felt a slight pang of worry as she thought of her detention the following night…

 **A/N: If anyone has any suggestions of what would happen, or any questions about anything related to this story, review and I will be happy to reply! But I've already written around eight of the chapters, so some suggestions I might not be able to include. Thanks again to all who read/review/favourite!**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns!**

 **(^-^)**


	6. The Diversion

**A/N: Chapter 6. Abbie has her detention! But it doesn't go too well... for Malfoy, anyway! Also, some mysterious things start happening at the end of the chapter... involving Courtney. Of course. Always Courtney... Oh, and this Chapter contains some** **humour** **. Malfoy gets quite irritated, and Abbie, Albus, James and Fred have a good laugh. Thanks to my sister (Tari Oronra) again for reviewing, you're the best, sis! Oh, and what did I say? I didn't take a week to update! :D Enjoy the chapter!**

 **C** ** _hapter six:_**

 ** _The Diversion_**

Abbie went down to the common room next morning to find three people waiting for her: James Potter, Fred Weasley, and his twin Roxanne Weasley. James was talking to Fred, who was holding a draw-string bag that was moving as though a dozen excited pigmy puffs were inside. Fred started nodding vigorously at James, who grinned evilly. Roxanne was, as usual, reading. Abbie looked from Fred to Roxanne. She had not believed it when she had first met them both and was told they were twins. Fred had flaming red hair and freckles, looking a lot like his dad, George, while Roxanne had dark hair and skin, resembling her mum, Angelina.

As Abbie approached them, Roxanne glanced up and smiled before fixing her eyes back on her book. Fred and James sprinted over to Abbie and Fred proudly held up the bag. Whatever was in the bag was trying hard to get out, for small lumps were appearing suddenly from inside the bag. Abbie stood on tiptoe and peered in the bag. Inside was what appeared to be many, round-headed, trumpet-nosed devices that were clambering on top of each other with their duck-like feet, trying to get out of the bag.

"Decoy Detonators!" Fred exclaimed happily, shoving the bag a bit further towards Abbie's face.

"They're very active," Abbie observed. From what she had heard about them, they stayed as still as rocks until they were chucked at something solid. It was only then that they would jump to life.

"Ah," Fred replied, still grinning. "Well on the way back from Hogsmead I dropped the bag. I lost a few who were smart enough to run away, but the majority of them are here!"

Abbie had also heard that students old enough to go to Hogsmead were only allowed to do so on specific weekends.

"When did you go to Hogsmead, may I ask?" Abbie raised an eyebrow suspiciously. There hadn't been any Hogsmead weekends yet.

"Ah," Fred said again, his grin faltering slightly to a weak smile, but then bouncing back, "Well what does that matter to you? James and I can do what we like, we are your superiors!" James suppressed a yawn, and Abbie suspected that they had gone last night. Fred quickly continued to try and hide James's giveaway. "Er, So! Um… What time are we, ah, starting the diversion?"

Abbie promptly replied, "Well my detention starts at five tonight, but don't set those things off straight after it's begun. It will look too suspicious. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes into it?" Abbie suggested. Fred and James, who were excited to get into the mischief as soon as possible, said in unison, "Ten."

The three of them headed down to breakfast, talking over plans. They entered the Great Hall to find Courtney waving to them from a seat at the Gryffindor table. Abbie hurried over, while Fred and James lingered, murmuring ideas to each other.

"Hi Courtney!" Abbie beamed, sitting next to her.

"Hello Abbie!" Courtney exclaimed, seeming very happy.

"What's up?" Abbie asked, smiling even more broadly when she saw how happy her friend was.

"Your detention with Malfoy. I can't wait to see the look on his face when you set off those Decoy Detonators! He'll be so furious!" Courtney laughed as she reached for the marmalade. Abbie cocked her head to one side, still smiling. Since when had Courtney wanted to break rules? Actually, before Hogwarts Abbie would have asked that of herself… But now Abbie was feeling quite rebellious, and laughed along with Courtney as she thought about what that night would bring. Even if, deep down, Abbie was feeling a tiny bit nervous…

That day's classes seemed to fly past and before she knew it, Abbie's detention had crept up on her. She stood outside Professor Malfoy's classroom ten minutes earlier than when she was due to talk over the plan with James and Fred. It was very clear, and Abbie didn't need to do much. Albus came five minutes later. He was only then told the plan, and seemed really nervous about it.

"We're breaking so many rules…" he muttered as Abbie checked the clock. They had one minute until the office door would open.

"Albus, you'd better hide over there until I'm inside, so you're not seen," Abbie suggested. "You guys should too…?" Abbie looked over to where Fred and James had been. They had mysteriously vanished.

"Okay… They are random…" Abbie stated. Albus ran for cover when the office door creaked noisily open.

"Ah, Miss Longbottom. You are early," was the drawled observation from Professor Malfoy as he appeared in the door way.

"Yes I'm early. Do I earn any house points for that? And I'm glad to see that I'm being called _Miss_ again!" Abbie retorted. Malfoy did not reply, he just opened the door wider to let her in.

Malfoy's office was dimly lit, with only the light of a blazing fire. The window, which was behind the desk, had black curtains which were drawn tightly so no light could come in that way. The walls on either side of the office were covered with shelves. One wall's shelves were filled with jars, most of which had bubbling potions in them. The other wall was covered with Dark Artifacts such as a shrunken scull that had a live baby snake curled up in it, and a shriveled old hand that looked like it was dead. Abbie thought twice about this when she saw it curl into a fist and slowly open up again. She shivered and sat down in the chair opposite Malfoy's desk. Malfoy sat behind it, facing Abbie.

"So. Today in your detention, you will be sorting out some potions and animal organs that I recently obtained into these jars," Malfoy drawled, gesturing towards an assortment of differently sized jars in a box on one side of the room. "All of the parts and potions you will find over there," Malfoy pointed carelessly next to the jars at another box. This box was filled with many disgusting looking lumps of organs and dusty phials with potions in them. "I suggest you don't drink any of the potions for some are poisons. Though I wouldn't have any objections to you poisoning yourself. Of course the head master would sack me if I let you…"

It was then that Abbie began hoping that the diversion would come into action, even though it had only been five minutes ago that she had entered Malfoy's office. She, after all, had no desire to sort through rat kidneys and toad intestines. Abbie sat there, gazing at Malfoy though her eyes were glazed over. She was deep enough in thought about the diversion that she jumped when the teacher opposite her stated, "Begin."

Slowly, Abbie slid off her chair and over to the corner of the room where the boxes were. She carefully picked up one of the dusty phials. It had what looked like thick, black, mud in it. It was bubbling slightly, some of the bubbles as big as Abbie's thumb, others as small as the head of a pin. She took another, cleaner phial from the other box next to the first one. Feeling sick at the potion globbing into the clean phial, Abbie looked away, disgusted. Something in the shadow of the large shelves on the left wall caught her eye. A tiny, penguin like thing the size of her palm was sitting there, marching on the spot. Its feet that looked too large for its body were making a very soft pattering sound. It was black, with a white patch on its tummy and around its bead-like eyes. The most curious thing about it was the trumpet that seemed to be its nose, protruding from the front of its face. Seven more of the tiny creatures had crept up behind the first, and they all started marching on the spot. Abbie smiled. Green smoke began issuing in small amounts out of the Decoy Detonator's trumpets.

"Hurry up Longbottom, I don't have time for this dawdling!" Malfoy smirked as he spoke, and Abbie was sure that if she didn't hurry up she'd have at least twenty points taken from Gryffindor.

"Of course Professor! Anything you like!" Abbie replied sarcastically, bowing slightly to Malfoy. She knew her detention would be ending very soon. She quickly turned her back on him to hide the broad grin that was spreading over her face. She made to take another potion, (she had no intentions of touching the pickled pig's ear that was on the top layer of the box) but didn't have time to pour it into a clean bottle. At that moment, there was a loud HONK! Malfoy looked up, stunned. He had heard that noise before. Long ago, back when he was at school… Surely it couldn't be…

His thoughts were interrupted by another honk… then another, and then another, until the room was filled with honking noises that seemed to be coming from nowhere. Abbie had stood up by this time, and was putting on an act of mild surprise. She looked around the room, which was now being filled with thick green smoke, and said aloud, "Well, I didn't expect this, Professor! Green smoke! And, hark! Is that a penguin I hear? Well, I'd better be on my way! I don't want to be blamed for this awful event!" And with that, she scurried from the office, leaving a stunned Professor Malfoy to deal with the smoke.

By the time she had run half way down the hall, she had tears running down her face from laughter. A second later, Albus was at her side, he too laughing. By the time Fred and James had joined them, they were all in hysterics as Abbie tried to recount exactly what had happened in the office through her laughter.

The four of them walked to the common room together, not bumping into anyone, alive or ghost. Fred and James were very enthusiastic about the Diversion, and suggested that Abbie should get into more detentions so that they could do it again.

They didn't find Courtney in the common room, and decided that she must be in the library, and so waited for her. After a while, James and Fred headed off to the astronomy tower for their lesson. Albus and Abbie decided to go and see if they could find Courtney in the grounds, and talk about the Diversion as they walked. As they entered the grounds, Abbie and Albus found themselves laughing maniacally again. Something about the whole Diversion situation seemed so funny. They wandered around the grounds looking everywhere for Courtney, but they couldn't see her anywhere. After about fifteen minutes, they settled under a beech tree near the Black Lake and continued to talk about the Diversion. They laughed and talked and quite lost track of the time. It was dark when they finally stood up, deciding that Courtney must have gone to the common room by now.

They had almost reached the castle when Albus noticed it: a shaky figure heading to the same destination as Abbie and Albus.

"Abbie! Look. Who's that?" Albus muttered in an undertone to Abbie. They both looked back over to the figure, who was coming closer.

"I dunno, it looks like whoever it is came from Hogsmead. The village is in that direction," Abbie guessed, peering through the darkness.

"Look, they're starting to run! Abbie do you think it saw us?"

Abbie watched the person curiously. As the figure ran through a patch of light, Abbie gasped, "Albus, its Courtney! And look, she's limping slightly!"

Albus's eyes went straight to the form of an old tree. The large branches were flailing madly around, as though it was fighting invisible creatures.

"The Whomping Willow. I bet she got in a fight with it!" Albus exclaimed quietly, pointing to the tree.

"Oh no! We'd better go and help her!" Abbie began jogging towards the shape of her friend, Albus following behind. When they reached the castle, Abbie ran up to Courtney, who was bent double gasping for breath.

"Courtney! Are you ok? What happened?" Abbie exclaimed, sounding worried. Courtney looked up, still panting. Her eyes were red and she looked as though she'd been crying.

"It's… It's ok Abbie. Don't worry, I can… I can handle it…" Courtney panted.

Albus caught up to them, panting slightly but not as much as Courtney. Both he and Abbie looked worried, the happiness and laughter that the Diversion had caused seeping away.

"Was it the tree? The Whomping Willow, I mean?" Albus asked Courtney, his eyes widening with what was probably fear of the tree.

"Yes… Well, no. Sort of. It wasn't the actual tree, just what's in it… never mind, ignore that. You don't need to worry ok? Just promise you won't go in the tree." Courtney straightened up and stopped panting as much. She held out her hand. "Promise me," she repeated.

Blinking confusedly, Abbie shook Courtney's hand and nodded, "I promise." Albus followed suit, promising not to go in the tree, however that was even humanly possible. He decided it might be better to know why they were promising not to go inside a magical tree that would probably kill you if you stepped close enough to look at it.

"Courtney, please tell us why exactly we're promising this. I mean, how could we get into the Whomping Willow even if we wanted to? How is it even possible to go into a tree?" Albus asked, carefully choosing his words. He didn't want to further upset Courtney. Abbie glanced at him nervously. Apparently she didn't think that was an appropriate thing to say at that time. But all the same, Courtney answered.

"I… Don't think I should tell you here. Or, right now. It's just dangerous. Too dangerous. Even for me sometimes… Oh, don't worry as long as you don't go down there. And _please_ don't ask me anymore questions!" Courtney sighed and looked pleadingly at her two best friends. Her eyes began shining with tears, but she fiercely rubbed them away.

 _They don't need to know!_ One part of her mind decided firmly.

 _But they're your friends, Courtney! Your_ only _friends!_ The other part of her mind reasoned. _You know that you'll have to tell them eventually; you can't keep them in the dark forever. There will come a time where you'll have wished you'd told them now and be done with it!_ Courtney shook her head.

 _Not yet._ She thought. _I don't have to tell them just yet._

Courtney smiled at Abbie and Albus. "Come on," she said, "let's head back to the common room. I want to hear all about your diversion, Abbie!" Her voice was light and carefree, but Abbie and Albus could tell that she still wasn't one hundred percent alright.

 **A/N: Yesss! A long chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review if you have any suggestions. Also I'd love to hear feedback about anything I could improve on. Thanks!**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns _**


	7. Dreams and Discoveries

**A/N: Yes! I found time to update and it's a weekday! ^-^ Firstly, thanks SO MUCH to Elektra Elentari! Your reviews made me smile, and possibly encouraged me to update another chapter... :D And thanks for Favouriting and Following! Also I had some guest reviews, to which I will answer at the end of this chapter. So! This chapter! Something very, VERY, interesting happens in this chapter at the very end that I think might made some people go, "Wha?" or, "Huh?" Because (in my opinion) it is quite unexpected. ANYWAY! I'll stop talking now and let you read- :)**

 _ **Chapter Seven:**_

 _ **Dreams and Discoveries**_

 _The Whomping Willow was getting closer. Its branches were flailing around like mad, but still he kept walking on. He was getting closer and closer to the dangerous tree. But he wasn't meant to go it. He had promised Courtney! But she wasn't here to stop him, was she?_

 _He had reached the tree. He took out his wand and held it in front of him. He shouted a spell, though he couldn't hear the words he was speaking. Quite instantly, the tree stopped moving. It was a normal willow that didn't attack people! But he wasn't surprised, he had done this hundreds of times, hadn't he? But wasn't this the first time he had stepped close to the Whomping Willow? Hadn't he always kept his grounds, and stayed away from it? No, of course not. He loved visiting the tree._ His _tree, he liked to call it now._

 _There was a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. He slid into it. He was only free-falling for a second or two before he landed hard on a rocky surface. He was in a passageway underground. He looked up, and saw the hole in which he had slid through above him. He could make out a few of the willow's branches. They were moving again. But he had to keep going! He didn't have much time. His surroundings were starting to fade away already and his conscious mind was interfering._

 _I shouldn't be here. I said I wouldn't come here._

 _He was running as fast as he could, bent double to fit in the tunnel. Just a little further…_

 _No! Stop! I need to go back, I made a promise!_

 _But aren't you just a little curious?_

 _No I'm not! Go away!_

 _We're almost there now… The tunnel's starting to slope upwards… Don't you want to meet your fate? Your destiny?_

"NO!"

Albus woke up with a start. He had shouted the last word aloud, and the boys in his dormitory were waking up. He sat up and rubbed sleep out of his eyes. His forehead was covered with sweat. Albus found that he was panting. Rupert Shacklebolt came running over to Albus and vaulted onto his bed.

"You alright, Albus? You're all sweaty," Rupert stated, eyeing Albus worriedly.

"I'm-I'm fine. Just a-a nightmare… Yeah, a nightmare…" Albus replied. He felt shaky. _Why did I dream of the Whomping Willow? I don't even know what it looks like inside it, and I'm dreaming that I've fallen in!_ Albus thought to himself. He looked over at his luminous alarm clock that his dad had given him. It was three in the morning. He lay down, deciding he'd make sense of his dream later in the morning. For now he would sleep... if he could without dreaming.

"You went into the Whomping Willow? Albus! Didn't you listen to me? I told you _not_. To. Go. Into. That. _Stupid._ Tree!" Courtney glared angrily at Albus as he stared fixedly at his bacon. They were having breakfast, and Albus had told Abbie and Courtney about his dream.

"I'm telling you Courtney, it was a dream! I didn't really go there, I simply dreamed I did! Okay?" Albus looked up at Courtney, annoyance written all over his face.

"Yes, it may have been a dream-…"

"It _was_ a dream Courtney!"

"Okay, it _was_ a dream, but that still doesn't explain how you could have dreamed about the tunnel exactly how it really is without going there before your dream!" Courtney exclaimed all in one breath, her voice rising slightly.

"Yup, sorry I didn't understand any of that. Calm down just a smidgen maybe," Albus replied, rolling his eyes. Courtney huffed and didn't speak any more.

"I agree with Courtney. How could you have seen the tunnel if you haven't been there before?" Abbie asked curiously. Courtney smiled at Abbie for backing her up.

"Oh great. Now I've got both of you against me have I?" Albus asked irritably.

Abbie shook her head vigorously, her pigtails whipping her face. "No, no, no. I'm just curious. I don't think you really went in the Whomping Willow or anything," Abbie reassured him desperately. Albus nodded slowly, still looking uncertain.

It was finally the weekend, and Abbie, Albus, James and Rose had decided to have a Quidditch practice. Courtney would be joining Rose and Roxanne in the library. So, after breakfast was over Abbie and Albus headed to the Quidditch pitch. Albus didn't say goodbye to Courtney.

It felt good to be on a broom again. It had only been a few days and Albus had missed flying. He definitely wanted to try out for the team as soon as he could. That would probably be in his third year, which seemed so far away to him. But once he was on the team he would be able to fly every week with the team, and have practices on the weekend perhaps with Abbie or James (if his brother was not off doing something else and had no time for his younger sibling). Albus was so sure that he would one day get on the Quidditch team that it never occurred to him that he might not. His father had always expected James and Albus to be good Quidditch players, and that they would both make it onto to Quidditch team. He didn't put pressure on his two boys; he just assumed that, the great players that they were, they would both make it onto the team. Because of this, James had been unsurprised when, in his second year, he had become Chaser. And Albus was positive that he would be a Seeker. He wanted to be just like his dad: a Gryffindor and a Seeker. So far, he was doing very well on the road to becoming like his father. He even looked like a mini-Harry-Potter.

Abbie and Albus sped about on a couple of brooms that George had let them use. First years weren't allowed their own brooms at school, which was sad seeing as they both had their own. Albus had a Nimbus 2001 and Abbie had Nimbus 2000. Abbie's dad hadn't liked flying, and her mum was never on a Quidditch team, so Neville had been very surprised when his daughter had asked for a broom when she was nine. Apparently, she had seen Albus and James fly on their brooms and wanted one, too. Her parents had been very surprised when they saw how good she was.

Abbie and Albus had been flying for a good half hour when they were interrupted. Two Slytherins were stalking onto the Quidditch Pitch, a broom over each boy's shoulder. Abbie recognized the blonde one instantly: it was Scorpious, Malfoy's son. The other boy neither Abbie nor Albus knew. He had a big build, dark brown hair and coal-coloured eyes. The two newcomers looked mildly surprised to see Abbie and Albus, but they were both soon smirking.

"Oh no, I don't like the look of this…" Albus muttered, flying towards the ground to meet the Slytherins.

"Albus, be careful!" Abbie called after him, remembering what had happened last time he had messed with Scorpious. She didn't want Albus in the hospital wing again. Abbie was soon shooting towards the ground, too.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, Eee?" Scorpious asked, addressing the boy next to him.

"A couple of Gryffindors out for a fly by the looks of things," the boy, Eee, replied. His lip curled and he seemed to tower over Abbie and Albus as they landed in front of him. In reality, he was only a head taller than them.

"Yes, we were out for a fly. Until you interrupted our race!" Abbie snapped back.

"Just leave them, Abbie…" Albus murmured. Abbie tried to point out that he was the one to fly down in the first place, but Scorpious had started talking again.

"So... I don't believe I know your names. All I know is that you're dumb enough to be Mudbloods, the way you come flying down here! Do you know who this is? This-" Scorpious didn't get to finish. He had two wands pointing at him before he could.

"Don't you dare!" Abbie exclaimed.

"We are not dumb," Albus menacingly growled. Abbie could tell that he was really angry.

Scorpious only smirked and pushed their wands away. "Want to introduce yourself, Eee?"

Nodding, Eee stated dramatically, as though he thought it would have a big effect on Abbie and Albus, "I'm Eater."

The reaction was the complete opposite of what Eater had wanted. Abbie and Albus both burst out laughing.

"Seriously? _Eater?_ That's your name? Are you _kidding me?_ " Albus asked through guffaws.

"Wait, is Eater your last name? It's your last name right? Because Eater is the most _pathetic_ first name _ever_!" Abbie chuckled. The look on Eater's face said everything: Eater was his first name, not his last name.

Laughing even harder Albus exclaimed, "Eater? That's even more pathetic that Bob! Remember Abbie? That's the name of Courtney's brother!"

Abbie and Albus were laughing too hard to see the look of confusion on Eater's face as Albus made this remark.

"What a lying little brat she is!" Eater exclaimed, rolling his eyes. Scorpious looked at him and said something that made both Abbie and Albus stop laughing.

"Courtney? Your sister still calls herself Courtney? Heh, she's still too scared to reveal her true identity I guess. She's still getting her mother to call her Courtney… But I think her name's cool! Who wouldn't like being called Death?"

 **A/N: Oooo! Death? Is Scorpious faking? Is Eater really Courtney's brother? Or is it all a joke? Okay, here are the Guest review replies.**

 **1) Sorry about the whole Teddy Lupin being a werewolf! I just thought it would be an interesting twist. And sorry to any other Teddy fans!**

 **2) I'll think about that idea about Malfoy... (I'm not stating what the idea is here though, don't want to give it away to anyone else, do we?) I do, though, want Malfoy to not be** **completely** **bad.**

 **3) Animagus - Black - Lupin situation? Please** **elaborate** **! I always like a good animagus... (though I do have plans of my own... Please review again and tell me more about your idea)**

 **I'm pretty sure that all those Guest reviews are by the same person, but just in case they weren't, I answered them separately.**

 **Please review with suggestions or anything else. They always bring a smile to my face:)**

 **-Charlotte of Sandydowns-**


	8. The Panther's Home

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took a while to update!**

 **I** **realised** **that, in previous chapters, I've been spelling Scorpius's name wrong. I think I spelled it Scorpious a few times... It really is spelled** ** _Scorpius._** **Sorry if I caused any confusion!  
**

 **Anyway, I'd really like suggestions on what could happen in the future of this story. I've been having a slight writer's block.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 _ **Chapter Eight:**_

 _ **The Panther's Home**_

"Scorpius! Why did you let slip? No one's supposed to know that they're alive! And now they know my sister's true name they'll put two and two together and work it out!" Eater scowled at Scorpius. They were sitting in a dark room, whispering conversations to each other. They always came here on weekends it there weren't any meetings.

"I'm sorry Eater! I just thought the looks on their faces would be priceless! Did you see how shocked they were? Anyway, how's your dad's plan going?" Scorpius replied.

Eater ignored his friend's first question and moved straight into the second. "I don't know. He's only tried once, so nobody can guarantee if it will work at all. It might even take every single night before the effects kick in. Then Dad'll be able to catch him in no time. Once he has one, it will be easy for him to capture the rest. The whole lot of that family think they're so noble. All they want to do is save other people's lives. Starting with the youngest will make it easy." Eater smirked.

"Remember, Eee, there's another. She'll be harder to get. Your dad might have to wait until next year or maybe the year after before he can get her!" Scorpius shook his head. The plan seemed almost impossible to him.

"Scorp, you have forgotten who my father is. He is powerful. He is very, very strong. Mum is also powerful and strong. If you can remember that, then you will know that nothing is impossible. Not for them. Not for _us_. Remember, we're part of this too! We are vital to the plan. But we can't do it without mum or dad, so stay positive! Okay? We can do this!" Eater held out his hand, and Scorpius took it. They shook and promised each other that they would help as much as they could.

Eater and Scorpius stood up. They slipped out of the room and headed to bed. It was very late, and they had a big day tomorrow. A very important meeting was going to be held at Eater and his sister's house. And this time, Death was going to attend. Even if she didn't want to…

* * *

 _He was moving faster than last time, speeding down the earthy tunnel. But his consciousness was holding him back, pulling him with an invisible force that was even stronger than last time._

 _Go away, I don't want to dream this!_

 _Aren't you just a little curious? Don't you want to know what's at the end of the tunnel?_

 _A little… But-_

 _Then let me show you!_

 _But aren't you just my mind? A random voice in my head?_

 _In a way…_

 _Who are you?_

 _My name is not of your concern, but what you should know is that I am someone who can show you things you couldn't see otherwise… I can show you your fate, your destiny…_

 _I don't want to know my destiny! I will learn it when I come to it!_

 _I know who you are. I can see your fears, your hopes, your obsessions. I can see your thoughts, Albus Potter…_

 _No, this is just a dream, just a dream… Go away, you're just a voice in my head…_

 _An image flashed around him, obscuring his view. A man was standing before him… He found that he was screaming…_

"Albus? Albus are you all right? You were writhing and you're covered in sweat again!"

It was Rupert Shacklebolt once more. He had always been a nice boy, always willing to help. Albus ran a hand through his hair, trying to recall his dream. It had been as clear as crystal up until that strange voice… Something else had happened, though, that he couldn't quite remember. There had been a man, though Albus couldn't remember what he looked like or what he had done. But it had been terrifying.

"I'm… alright. Honestly Rupert. Gee… That was a weird dream. It's okay, you go back to bed," Albus replied quietly. He didn't want to wake up the other boys, though he couldn't hear them snoring, so perhaps they were lying awake, listening to his and Rupert's conversation.

"Mate, you were screaming….like you were in pain or something awful like that…" _Ok,_ Albus thought, _that explains the lack of snoring._

"I was? Erm, I was just having bad dreams again, you can go back to bed."

Rupert did as he was told, shuffling off to his four poster bed and pulling the curtains around himself and his bed. Albus, however, stood up and tiptoed down into the common room. He would not be able to go back to sleep now… Maybe he would find it easier to snooze on one of the arm chairs.

All thought of snoozing off, however, were wiped completely out of his head when he reached the warm common room. For there stood Courtney, fully dressed with a bag over her shoulder, striding towards the portrait hole. She was going somewhere? At this time? According to Albus's clock the time was ten past midnight.

Courtney didn't seem to have noticed Albus as he silently walked towards her. After a few seconds, Albus whisper-called, "Courtney!"

Courtney jumped out of her skin and turned around, startled. She noticed Albus and lowered the wand that she had been pointing at him a second before.

"Albus. What are you doing?" she whispered, coming toward him. "Oh, and do you know what the time is?"

Albus yawned as he replied, "I had another dream and woke myself up. It's ten past midnight, why do you ask? And where are you going?" Albus added as an afterthought, looking his friend up and down. She looks as though she was going out somewhere.

"Oh goodness I'm going to be late!" Courtney exclaimed quietly, and she hurried back over to the portrait hole.

"Late for what? Where are you going Courtney?" Albus quietly called after her. He was completely baffled about why she was going somewhere at such a preposterous time.

"Nowhere for you to worry about. I, on the other hand, do need to worry about being late! Albus, I'm sorry but I really have to go. I'll talk to you at breakfast. If I'm back by then…" Courtney's voice trailed off as she scrambled through the portrait hole and disappeared. Albus sighed. Ever since he started going to Hogwarts he had become too curious and reckless. But this was important. He had to find out what Courtney was up to. He suspected it was dangerous. The only problem would be getting James to agree, and if they were going to do this they would have to be fast. Very fast.

Albus crept as quickly as he could back up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. He snuck into the third-years room and tiptoed over to his brother's bed. Knowing James was a light sleeper and would probably shout out, Albus carefully placed his hand over James's mouth. James's hazel eyes instantly flew open and widened when he saw Albus. Albus pressed his figure to his lips and gestured for James to come downstairs. While James dressed, Albus hurried into his own dormitory and got dressed. They met in the common room.

"Albus what is it… I'm tired…" James murmured sleepily.

"Okay I'll get right to the point, we have to be fast. James. I think it's time to tell Abbie and Rose about your Cloak. And my Map." Albus guessed that James had already told Nicole about his Cloak, and so didn't mention her.

"What?" James was instantly wide awake. "But I can't! Dad said-well I just don't want to. It's my Cloak and I can do what I want with it. And the Map? I'd recommend you don't tell of it to anyone." James glared suspiciously at his younger brother.

"James please! I just saw Courtney sneak off saying she was going to be later for something and I think she could be in danger. And there's something else… Yesterday when Abbie and I were at the Quidditch pitch we say Scorpius and this other boy, Eater," Albus began.

James started, "Eater? I've heard of him! He's that second year who's always bossing people around!"

Albus nodded and continued. "From what they said, Courtney is Eater's sister and her name isn't really Courtney. She just pretends that it is because she's scared of her true identity. They said her name was Death, James. I know something strange is going on here, please let us use the Cloak! It'll just be Abbie and Rose!" Albus gazed up at James with desperate eyes. James slumped his shoulders. How could he say no to that look? But to show them his Cloak! And Albus's Map? What would their dad say? But if what Albus heard was true…

"Okay, okay. We can tell them. But how are we going to get Abbie, Rose and Nicole down here? Boys aren't allowed in the girls' dormitories." James gave in.

Albus smirked inwardly. Ha. So James had told Nicole about the Cloak. But he was right, how would they tell the girls?

"That's not a problem, guys. I heard the conversation." A sleepy Abbie wandered down the stairs and into the common room. She was fully dressed, meaning that she had been planning on getting up in the first place.

"Abbie!" breathed Albus happily.

"Hi," James muttered. He didn't seem pleased that he would have to reveal his Cloak.

"James, what's the Cloak?" Abbie asked curiously. She had never heard him talk of anything like this before.

"Nothing. Well, something but I'll only tell you if you go and get Rose and Nicole. Wait, oh no! We won't all fit! Especially with us third-years… Some will have to say behind!" James sighed annoyed.

Albus turned to Abbie and asked, "Did you hear about Courtney?"

Abbie nodded, "How she was sneaking off? Yeah… If we're going to follow her, we'd better hurry!" With that she trotted upstairs. A minute later she came down again with Rose and Nicole, all three of them dressed.

"Okay," James began. Abbie had told the two girls the story already. "So I have this Cloak. I've had it ever since I was… um, how old, Albus? Nine?" Albus nodded in agreement.

"Yeah so I was nine and Albus was seven and we broke into Dad's private office and found two interesting things: a Map and a Cloak. There were tons of Cloaks so we just took one and there was only one Map but we took it anyway. So the Cloak is mine and the Map is Albus's. Of course when Dad found out he was furious, but then he let us keep them. Albus, you first. Present the Map." James half bowed to his brother as he protruded a blank piece of parchment from his pocket.

"This," Albus began, "Is the Marauders Map. It shows where everyone in Hogwarts is and all the secret passageways. Oh look, Courtney's in the grounds… Anyway! The Cloak, James!"

James nodded and slowly, very slowly, took a silvery material from under his cape. He opened it out. It was a very beautiful cloak. It looked as though it was made of silvery water. Abbie and Rose gasped when they saw it.

"In all my life I have never seen one of those…" Rose breathed excitedly.

"Wow, James… I never knew you had a Cloak… A real Cloak!" Abbie whispered, trembling with excitement.

"Well. Here you are. My Cloak. My Invisibility Cloak." James smiled proudly.

* * *

James, Abbie and Albus ran as fast as they could down the many stairs of Hogwarts. James had insisted on going because it was, after all, _his_ Cloak they were hiding under. Albus naturally wanted to come because it had been _his_ idea to go in the first place. Abbie wanted to come because she had never been under an Invisibility Cloak. She had pleaded to go, so James had given in. If anyone else had squeezed under the Cloak their feet would have shown, so only the three went.

Albus held the Marauders Map in front of him, giving instructions on where to go. After a while, they made it into the Hogwarts grounds and spotted Courtney. The sky was still dark, so it was hard for them to see.

Albus pointed as he spoke, "Look, there's the Whomping Willow. I think that's where Courtney's going!"

James looked startled, "But she can't go down there!" he whispered, "Dad told me, it's forbidden!"

Albus and Abbie looked at him, shocked. "Why did Dad tell you? Why didn't he tell me?" asked Albus in an undertone, sounding hurt.

"Well I don't know! Maybe he thinks you're too little to know!"

"You stupid-"

"Guys, why don't you just stop bickering? No matter what your dad says, no offence to him, we're going down there. Got it?" Abbie asked, glaring at the two boys, who agreed.

Albus started feeling very uncomfortable when they started nearing the tree. He watched as Courtney took out her wand and muttered a spell, making the tree stop moving. He felt even worse when Courtney jumped down into a hole at the base of the tree. It was just like his dream. It was exactly like his dream! He felt like stopping, demanding to go back to the castle.

But he didn't. He, his brother and Abbie just kept walking towards the tree.

The tree didn't start moving again until the three of them had scrambled down the hole. James had to slip out from under the Cloak to manage getting down.

They were in an underground tunnel that went on as far as the threesome could see. It was small and cramped, and James had to crawl. Abbie and Albus, who were quite a lot shorter that James, had to hunch over. They had taken James's Invisibility Cloak off themselves when Courtney disappeared from view around a corner.

They walked (and crawled) for what felt like hours, though the real time could not be told. A while later, the ground started sloping upwards. Then they came to a dead end.

"What do we do now?" Abbie asked quietly.

"We go up," Albus promptly replied, without even looking the way he pointed. He recognised this place from his dreams...

"How do you know?" James pondered suspiciously.

"I-I looked," lied Albus. He hated lying. _Then why did you_? He thought. _They don't need to worry themselves about my problems._

The three students found it seriously difficult to climb through the hole above them. James decided to be nice for a change and allowed Abbie and Albus to climb first onto his back and then into the hole. James, being taller that the first-years, managed getting through the hole himself. When they were all through, they found themselves in quite an unexpected place.

They were standing inside an old house. It looked as though it had once been falling apart, but someone had tried to fix it. There were definite signs of someone living there. New wallpaper was plastered to one wall, and among the falling apart couches was a sofa that looked to be new, too.

"Where are we?" Abbie wondered aloud, looking around.

"I know where we are…" muttered James. Before he could say anything else, Albus yelled.

"What is that?"

Abbie and James spun around. Lying on one of the old couches, looking right at them, was a black panther.

James, Albus and Abbie's shock to see such an animal was escalated as the panther lightly jumped off the couch with some sort of beauty, and abruptly changed shape. The panther landed on its back legs and became human-like. Within seconds, it was unmistakably a girl.

"So you came. I thought you might," The girl smiled bitterly at the looks of shock on Abbie, Albus and James's faces. They had not expected the panther to turn into a girl, let alone their friend.

"Welcome," Courtney started, "To my home!"

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! (Ooooh! Courtney's an animagus! I didn't see that coming... Even though I wrote it...)**

 **Once again, please** **review** **! I'm open to suggestions as always, and love hearing your feedback and ideas:)**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns 3 3**


	9. The Sneaking Snake

**A/N: Aaaaahhhhh I'm sorry it took me so long to update! It's just that this chapter is really quite complicated and took me ages to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's starting to get very... interesting. Actually, I wanted to call it "The Chapter That Explains Everything" (even though it doesn't).**

 **Aaaaaand here is the chapter!**

 _ **Chapter Nine:**_

 _ **The Sneaking Snake**_

"This is your home? The Shrieking Shack?" James asked, staring incredulously at Courtney.

"Yes, this is my house. But you'd better keep your voices down. I don't want you to be heard. But I wish you'd listen to me and go back to Hogwarts! It's much safer there," Courtney replied, her smile from before (bitter though it may have been) completely gone.

"Courtney, no matter what you say, we aren't going anywhere," James firmly stated.

"Fine. Stay. I guess if that's the case I'll have to explain a lot of… stuff to you guys," Courtney gave in, sighing at her friends' decision.

Albus and Abbie grinned at James, glad that he could convince Courtney into letting them stay.

"So this is the Shrieking Shack?" Albus murmured, rotating on the spot to get a good look at his surroundings. "And you live here, Courtney? Pretty dreary place…"

"Yes, this is the Shrieking Shack, yes, I live here, and yes it is dreary. I've gotten really sick of it after almost seven years of living here…" Courtney quickly responded, looking around with a look of slight disgust on her face.

"I'd better go upstairs, I'm almost late as it is… You guys chose: either stay down here and make absolutely no noise, or go back to the castle," Courtney knew the answer before Abbie even spoke.

"We're staying here of course! What did you expect? But we've still got so much to ask you! Like, since when were you an animagus? And where did you live before here? And why do you even live here? And where are your parents? And-"

Courtney sighed, "Abbie, I'll answer all those questions eventually. Just stay here for now! And if you hear any noises on the stairs put your Cloak on immediately. Yes, James I know about your Invisibility Cloak. I saw you go under it and sneak off to Hogsmead with Fred the night before Abbie's diversion. Anyway, gotta go now!" Courtney changed back into a panther and soundlessly slipped up the stairs and out of sight before Abbie could ask anything else.

"So, what do we do now?" whispered Albus. He didn't like the situation they were in at all. First the Whomping Willow, then the Shrieking Shack, then Courtney the panther, and now this: stuck in the old, falling apart building for goodness knows how long, ready to chuck an Invisibility Cloak over the three of them if they heard any sign of movement. Albus's life sure was getting weird thanks to Courtney!

"What do you think we do? We wait. And hope we aren't seen by whoever is up there with Courtney," Abbie replied incredulously, sitting down in one of the newer sofas. They had been sitting in silence, deep in their own thoughts, for about ten minutes, when suddenly they heard something.

It was a very soft sound, only audible because of the utter silence that filled the ground floor. The noise was almost like the whisper of wind, or like the rustle of leaves in a tree in Autumn. There was something chilling about the sound, yet it was beautiful at the same time. It was a soft hissing. The sound became louder. It was coming from the stairs. James knew that he should get the Cloak out and throw it over him, his brother and Abbie to protect them, but something was holding him back. He felt as though he was being hypnotized by the rhythmic sound. James glanced over at his brother and was shocked to see he was shaking.

"Albus?" James whispered. He noticed that Abbie was looking at Albus as well, concern in her eyes.

Albus didn't respond at first. He just sat there, shaking all over as though he had walked through a particularly icy ghost.

When James spoke his name again, Albus jumped and looked at him. Albus whispered something so quietly that, even in the almost complete silence, James and Abbie had to strain their ears to hear him.

"It's him…"

Abbie blinked and looked and James confusedly.

"Al, what are you talking about?" James whispered, resting a hand on Albus's shoulder.

Albus still stared at James, though it seemed like he couldn't see the older boy. Albus's eyes were glazed over and wide with fear. He was still shaking.

"That man… I dreamed of him… It… it can't be…" Albus spoke as though he was in a trance, though it was unmistakably his own voice.

"Al?" Abbie asked shaking him slightly. The hissing noise was completely audible now, but neither Abbie nor James paid it any attention as it grew louder. Both were staring at Albus, terrified of what was wrong with him.

"Back… he was in my dreams… But he can't… He's back…" Albus still made no signs of seeing James or Abbie. All this time, the noise behind them was getting louder and louder. It was right behind the sofa that the three children were sitting on, but they did not realise.

Suddenly, Albus's eyes went back to normal and he stopped shaking. He still looked slightly scared.

"Albus, are you okay?" Abbie asked, noticing his new stance.

"Yeah…" Albus murmured. He looked slightly confused and a bit dazed. "But I just saw-" Albus fell silent, listening.

It was then that Abbie and James heard the hissing. They both looked around, angry at themselves for not acting sooner. James began silently pulling his Invisibility Cloak out of his robe. He threw it over himself, Albus and Abbie and the three of them stood up. They decided to slowly walk around the sofa to see what, or who, was there.

"Guys, I don't think we should go around. Whoever it is sounds pretty angry," Albus muttered in an undertone to his companions, throwing out his arms to stop them from walking any further.

"How can you tell it's angry? I can only hear a bunch of hissing!" Abbie whispered back, and James nodded in agreement.

"Hissing? What hissing? I can only hear that voice going on about intruders! I think we're in trouble…" Albus muttered, peering around in search of whoever he had heard talking.

James and Abbie looked at Albus in surprise. They couldn't hear anyone talking. Only that constant, annoying, hissing noise.

Before any of them could say anything else, a voice echoed through the house. The voice was as clear as crystal, and all of the three children could hear it.

"Hurry up! Didn't Dad say the meeting was over? We need to go now! I'll call up Nagini, I don't know what she's doing down stairs…"

Abbie, Albus, and James instantly recognised the voice, though it wasn't Courtney's.

It was Eater's. The boy who was supposedly Courtney's brother…

But this surprise was not what made Abbie hold in a gasp. It was the name Eater had stated. _Nagini_. Abbie recognised the name from stories her dad had told her many times before. But Abbie's dad's stories did not match up with what Eater had said. Nagini had been the pet of Voldemort. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Nagini had been killed by Abbie's dad himself. If Nagini was dead, how could she be living in this house? Abbie's dad had killed Nagini with the sword of _Gryffindor_ , for Merlin's sake!

Before Abbie could think any more on the matter, Eater appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that issued from it was a series of hissings, not unlike the sound that was coming from under the sofa…

Albus gasped. Abbie shushed him and shoved her hand over his mouth to stop him from making any more noise. Abbie stared at Eater, trying to decipher what he was saying. She couldn't understand any of it. Apart from Eater, only two beings in that room could understand what he was saying. One of these beings was not human.

Abruptly, James understood. He leaned forward to look beyond the sofa. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a massive snake slither out from under the sofa towards Eater, attracted by his hissing.

"Eater's a Parselmouth…" James breathed.

"Oh course!" Abbie whispered back. Albus said nothing. He was shaking again.

"Oh, no... No, no, no… He can't be… it can't be true… it is!" Albus's voice was barely a whisper as he spoke. Abbie was still peering at Eater, trying the impossible task of understanding his words as he hissed in Parselmouth to the snake. James, however, had heard his younger brother and had eyes, and ears, only for him.

"Al? You alright? Shush, you need to keep your voice down or Eater will hear you! Are you okay, buddy? Albus!" James muttered, shaking Albus slightly from underneath the Cloak.

"Why is he saying that, why would he say such things? It mustn't be true, it mustn't be true! It is true… I can't believe it… James!" Albus almost spoke the last word, his voice no longer a whisper.

Nagini had slithered up to Eater by now. She was curling up his arm and wrapping herself around Eater's neck like a heavy, leathery scarf. By this time, though, neither Abbie nor James were paying Eater or Nagini any attention. Albus was in a very bad state, though Abbie and James could get no more information out of Albus. All he did was constantly repeat 'He's back', 'It can't be true' and other statements like that.

Eventually, Albus came back to his senses and he whispered, "James… James, we need to go and tell Dad… He can tell Mum and they can get Lily and-"

James cut through his brother in a louder voice: Eater and Nagini had left the room, heading back upstairs.

"Al, I don't understand what you are talking about. Who is back? Back from where? Why do we need to contact Dad?" James asked, throwing the Invisibility Cloak off them all as he spoke.

"And what's Eater doing here…" Abbie murmured, looking over at the rickety stairs. "He must've been telling the truth… Courtney is his sister… If he lives here too, that is…"

Albus fell onto one of the couches, looking terrified. He was breathing heavily as though he had just run a race, and was sweating like mad. He was still shaking.

"You-you know those dreams I was having? About going down into the W-Whomping Willow? Last time I had one, there was something else to it. At the end of the dream, I saw a man. It was just a flash, so brief I didn't remember it when I woke up. B-but, now I-I remember. And I know who it was, too. And also, I-I heard what the snake was saying just then. And Eater. I-I think th-that I can speak Parselmouth." Albus stuttered. It was clear that he was extremely scared of something that Abbie and James didn't know about.

James nodded, and replied with a calm voice, "Okay, Al. You need to tell us who you saw in your dream, and also what Eater and Nagini said. _Please_ tell us, Albus! It might be important!" James put his hand on his little brother's shoulder, trying to stop him from shaking, which, Abbie thought, seemed an impossible task.

"Yes… It is important, very important. The man. I can't be sure, I barely remember, but he had red eyes, with pupils like of a cat's, and he was very pale. He was bald, and his nose was snake-like with-with slits for nostrils. A-And… when Eater was talking in Parselmouth, he said, 'My father wants you, Nagini, come now, your Master awaits. Co-come f-for… f-for…'" Albus had started shaking again and seemed unable to say anymore.

James and Abbie exchanged a meaningful look. They recognised that description anywhere. It was the precise description of Voldemort. But why would Albus be dreaming of Voldemort, when the Dark Wizard had been killed decades before?

"What else did Eater say, Albus? Tell us," James kindly asked Albus.

Before anymore could be said, however, there was more movement on the stairs. James was just about to pull out his Cloak when footsteps echoed behind them and Courtney appeared, looking worried.

"Are you guys alright? I heard Eater talking to Nagini the Second just after the meeting and-" Courtney's eyes fell on Albus as she spoke. "What's wrong with Albus?"

 _Aha!_ Abbie thought, _Nagini the_ Second _. That makes sense!_ She shook her head, "We don't really know. He just discovered that he's a Parselmouth, and he heard Eater say something in that language. But he doesn't want to tell us. He's really shaky!"

Courtney sat next to Albus and asked him kindly, "Albus, what did Eater tell you? Can you please tell me?" She showed no surprise in knowing that Abbie and James knew who Eater was. She actually suspected he had told them his true identity.

"Master awaits… Come for… for… Voldemort…"

Abbie and James gasped, but, once again, Courtney showed no sign of surprise. She seemed to decide this was a mistake, and quickly covered it by asking, "Did you dream about Voldemort? Did he lead you hear in your dreams?"

"Yes…"

Before Albus could say any more, James exclaimed, "Voldemort's dead! Dad killed him! What are you going on about, Courtney?" He too was starting to look very scared.

"Courtney, it's time for you to explain."

Everyone jumped as, quite suddenly, Albus spoke. His voice was steady and he wasn't shaking at all.

Courtney sighed. "Yeah, I think it is too, though I don't want to. I'm sorry I haven't told you before now, I was scared of what you'd think. I didn't want to have to tell you because I didn't want to give up my only friends. Okay, here goes. I'll tell you everything, or as much as I can for now. Right from the beginning…"

"Ever since I was three, I lived in a muggle orphanage. I don't remember my parents at all. I don't even know who they were. Apparently I just turned up on the orphanage doorstep. They took me in, gave me a room, and I just… got used to not knowing who my parents were. Most of the other kids there had known their parents before they had died. Of course, because I didn't remember anything of my parents I didn't know my own name. So I called myself Courtney. Everyone else called me that, too, though some made up names for me, which annoyed me.

"Anyway, after a few years this boy named Lachlan came into the orphanage. I hated him the moment I saw him, and he hated me as well. He was a real bully, always bossing people around and forcing the younger kids to do jobs for him. He thought he was so amazing. I most certainly didn't. I thought he was a pathetic idiot.

"I was six when I first started showing signs of magic. I would be able to grow the other girls' hair just by looking at it, and I would do that a lot. It scared the other children, though none of them ever told an adult. I thought it was fantastic, though. What wasn't fantastic, however, was that Lachlan started to be able to make small objects fly at his will. A year or two later and it was clear that we both were magical. This made us hate each other even more."

Courtney sighed, the first sign of her not wanting to talk any more the whole time she had been telling her story. She looked down at her lap, and only continued talking when Albus whispered, "Go on!"

Courtney spoke again, "I was nine, Lachlan had only just turned ten, when the visitors arrived. I remember that day, and the visitors, very clearly. There was a man and a woman, both of whom looked quite old. The man was tall and bald. The woman was just as tall, but she had masses of black, curly hair that reached her waist. I was listening through the door of the main office, and I heard them talk. The man had a cold voice, and the woman had a high-pitched voice that, occasionally, dripped with sarcasm. I didn't like the sound of them, they scared me. When I heard that they were looking to adopt two kids, I ran to my room and locked the door. I had always wished to be adopted, but I didn't want to live with these to people.

"I was terrified when I heard a knock on my door. I opened it, knowing I didn't have a choice. There stood the woman. Though she smiled at me, I felt no warmth. I allowed her to sit down. She told me that her name was Bella, and that she and her husband wished to adopt me. I thought this was very weird, usually visitors talked to us kids for a long while before deciding who they would take home with them. I always thought of us as pets, waiting to be bought and brought back to a new home.

"As Bella talked to me a little longer, I realised that I would have no say in the matter of me going with her and her husband. The way she talked made me feel hypnotized by her, which was strange. I realise now that I had been under a curse... Anyway, I went into the hall with Bella to find her husband and Lachlan standing there. I couldn't believe it when I heard that he was to be my brother, and we were to live with him. I had learned a lot about Lachlan over the years of knowing him, and knew that his father's name had been Bob. Lachlan hated the name, and had hated his father. So, I nicknamed him Bob. He loathed it."

Abbie looked at Albus, shocked. "Bob?" She asked.

"Your brother?" Albus asked.

"Lachlan?" James asked.

"Yes, just listen to the story!" Courtney snapped. She waited for her friends to stop muttering, and then resumed her story.

"So, anyway. I went to live with these three people. They told me and… Bob, I'll call him, that we were magical. Bob was a wizard and I was a witch. We weren't surprised by this at all, seeing as odd things always happened around us, and we could make odd things happen. We learned that Bella and her husband were magical, too. I remember asking what Bella's husband was called. The man said that I would find out in due course, and that I should call them Mum and Dad. For some reason, I never liked that idea. I always called then by their real names, once I had been told what they were.

"We reached me and Bob's new home. It was an old, falling apart shack. It was called the Shrieking Shack. I was given a room, right at the very top of the house. Then, Bob and I were told everything we needed to know. We were also told never to repeat what we had heard to anyone. And – and this is what they said…" Here Courtney paused and took a deep breath. Then, she started once more on the seemingly never-ending story.

"You must realise that these words meant nothing to me at the time. I knew nothing of the wizarding world, except that I was part of it. So you mustn't think badly of me. Please."

Abbie, Albus, and James were all staring at Courtney, latched onto her story. All four children had been blown into their own world: Abbie, Albus and James's was a world of wonder and curiosity. Courtney's was a world of past memories, a world where she was only nine years old, being swept into a place of magic and danger.

They were all too busy listening to (and, in Courtney's case, telling) stories, that none of them heard the soft creak of the stairs…

Courtney continued to speak once more, "First, they told us what we were to become. They said that, one day, we would be their followers. The way they worded, it sounded like Bob and I were to be their slaves. Our new parents were going to turn us into Animagi, though we didn't know what Animagus were. They told us a heap of other things that don't matter, like rules of the house and education. Then – then they revealed their true identities. Bella said her name really was Bellatrix and – no, just hear me out!" Courtney exclaimed quickly, as Abbie and Albus gasped at the same time and James sat bolt upright. They recognised that name anywhere! Bellatrix was the Death Eater who had been killed by Molly Weasley, Rose's grandma, a few decades ago. Bellatrix had been known for torturing people to death. She had even killed Harry Potter's godfather when Harry was a teenager.

"Okay, Courtney. We'll hear you out, but aren't you going a bit too far? I mean, this story sounds a bit far-fetched to me," James reasoned. Courtney glowered at him.

"Do you want to hear the rest of my story or not? For Merlin's sake, believe what I'm telling you! It's vital!" Courtney stormed, almost forgetting to keep her voice down. The stairs creaked with the effort of holding such a weight again, but nobody noticed.

Without waiting for a reply, Courtney pressed on.

"So, my adoptive mother is Bellatrix. Got that? And her husband is… Oh you aren't going to believe me, but I'm telling you anyway. He's Voldemort!"

The next thing they knew, a voice yelled out " _Incarcerous!"_ and ropes bound all four of them. Then, a cold man's voice echoed through the silent shack.

"Oh, Death. Why are you telling stories that you shouldn't to your… friends? You know what the punishment is! I shall have to keep these young people tied up for a while… Well, I was expecting simply the small Potter boy, but I got both!" An evil laughed rang through the room, and the children knew no more.

 **A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's getting interesting, right? I hope so! :)**

 **Yay! I've noticed that my chapters are getting longer! Please tell me if they are too short/long. And is the pacing too fast? I would be grateful if you could leave a review and tell me:)**

 **Oh, and Collin Creevy somehow managed to steel Hermione's time turner and has come to the future as a twelve year old! He really wants to sell some of his photos (he's getting quite good at it) so if you review you can get a photo! :D (Thanks to PebbleKitty for encouraging Collin Creevy)**

 **Yup, my chapters are getting longer and so are my author's notes. XD**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns :)**


	10. Torture

**A/N: Hello readers! I'm really sorry it's taken me so long to update...  
I realise that the title of this chapter sounds quite sinister. I wouldn't say this chapter is ****_sinister,_** **but the name Torture suits it.  
Thanks to all of my readers for sticking with this story of mine, it really means a lot. All of the reviews I get make me smile, and also make me want to write even more. So if you review, there's a chance that I'll update sooner than I planned.  
In this chapter, there's... Actually, I won't say. I'll let you enjoy the chapter without me giving away what happens. :)**

 **Thanks so much for reading!**

 **Chapter Ten:**

 **Torture**

"Abbie, are you alright?"

"Yes, but where's Courtney?"

"I dunno…"

"James did you see her?"

"No, I was unconscious! What did you think?"

"Darn, they took our wands…"

"Use your brain, of course they did!"

"Oh, right…"

James, Albus and Abbie talked in whispers, scared that they might be overheard. They had come back to consciousness untied, though bruised. None of them had seen Courtney since they had woken.

"Do you think we're still in the Shack?" Albus asked.

"Yes. Look at the walls. They're the same kind of wood as in the lounge room, which must be downstairs. I reckon we're in some sort of… cell," James replied sinisterly.

"Do you believe what Courtney was telling us downstairs in the lounge room?" Albus asked in a quiet voice. Abbie and James glanced at each other, trying to figure out their answer.

"I don't know, Albus… I still think it sounded a bit strange…" James murmured.

"I agree, but how would you explain Albus's dreams, then? Courtney asked if… Voldemort had led Albus here in his dreams, and I don't really understand that, but I can work out enough to guess that somehow, Voldemort and Bellatrix have come back to life," Abbie supposed firmly.

Albus stood up suddenly, and began pacing up and down the small room, "Look, I'll tell you what happened!" He began, an almost angry tone in his voice, "Voldemort was planting thoughts into my head while I was asleep, so I thought I was dreaming. It's like what he did to Dad when Dad was a teenager. Voldemort was trying to hypnotize me, to force me to come here. I just don't know why… But," Albus turned to face Abbie and James, "This is Voldemort we're talking about. He could be up to anything. So what we need to do is some detective work. First we need to contact Dad, Mum, and Lily. Then, we need to escape from this room, find Courtney, and get as much information as we can about Voldemort and Bellatrix."

James and Abbie stared in a stunned silence at Albus. Albus had never risen to take the position of leadership before, and here he was, telling them what they were going to do! Albus blinked at his two friends, waiting for a reply. After about a minute of shocked silence passed, Albus's ears had turned red and he seemed to become very interested in the grubby flooring. He was staring at it very intently, and didn't seem able to look up at his friends.

"Wow, Al! Becoming our ickle leader are you?" James teased, grinning despite their horrible situation.

"Shut up," Albus grumbled in reply.

"Aha, I see. Now you're grumpy at me," James smirked, watching as Albus's eyes narrowed as the younger boy gazed at the ground. James noticed that there was a small crack between two of the wooden floorboards.

"I said shut up, James," Albus muttered with not much conviction.

James opened him mouth to retort, when Abbie silenced him.

"James, listen to your brother and be quiet! _Listen_!"

James decided to obey, due to the fact that, when he listened closely, he could hear voices murmuring from below. He and Abbie scrambled over to the crack in the floor and peered through it, along with Albus. They couldn't really see what was going on below them as the crack was too small. James began rummaging in his pockets.

"I still can't hear what they're saying!" whispered Abbie, straining her ears to no avail. To her and Albus's surprise, James let out a triumphant, 'Ha!' and his hand emerged from his pocket, holding what looked like a handful of rats' tails. James took three of the skin coloured tails from his handful and handed one to Abbie and Albus, keeping the last for himself.

"You're a genius, you know that?" Abbie happily observed as she inserted one end of the Extendible Ear (what appeared to be a rat's tail) into her own ear, feeding the other end through the crack in the floorboards. As Albus and James followed suit, James replied smugly, "Yeah I am, aren't I?"

The moment the Extendible Ears were inserted into one's ear, one could hear everything from the other end of the Extendible Ear. So, naturally, as Abbie, Albus and James poked the pale strings into their ears, they heard the voices as clearly as though they were coming from right next to them.

"Fred's a genius too," Abbie muttered, remembering that the Extendible Ears did come from Fred Weasley's dad's shop. Albus shushed Abbie and the three of them listened to the voices below.

"…and I managed to get Death to stay in her room. It took a lot of persuading, though." A woman's voice, Bellatrix's, continued a conversation that Abbie, Albus and James had not heard.

"Yes, I expected she would," a high, cold voice that could only be Voldemort's replied. "I will deal with her before the prisoners. She will get punished badly for her story-telling. I'll ensure that I will either wipe our prisoner's minds, or dispose of them altogether. The latter, however, would be more… advisable. That way their _dear_ little families won't become too suspicious after their children don't remember to return home. I've waited a long time for this, as you know Bella."

"Yes, yes I know My Lord. As have I," Bellatrix replied.

There was the sound of footsteps as another person entered the downstairs room. Meanwhile, the three prisoners exchanged glances. _Bellatrix called her husband 'My Lord'?_

"Dad, can me and Scorp go and torture the prisoners? Mr. Malfoy doesn't mind!" the voice of Eater, Courtney's brother by adoption, pleaded.

"Ah," Voldemort sighed, "Scorpius is still here, is he? I suppose you'll both go back up to the castle tomorrow…" Voldemort's voice had a tone of longing in it as he spoke of Hogwarts. "Yes, I think that you may torture them. Only the Cruciatus curse, nothing more. You mustn't knock them unconscious, remember, I am going to see to that myself."

There was the sound of hurried footsteps: Eater was running off to find Scorpius. However, Voldemort called his son back.

"Eater, make sure you have their wands. We don't want our prisoners to think that they can sneak out of their room and steal their wands from us."

There was no more to be heard, so Abbie and Albus reluctantly took their Extendable Ears and handed them back to James. They didn't want to be caught with them out when Eater, or Bob, and Scorpius came to torture them…

"I wonder why Scorpius is here," James pondered aloud as he walked around their small room. He wanted to find an escape, as he had no desire to be tortured by the Slytherin bullies.

"Scorpius is friends with Eater, duh!" Albus rolled his eyes.

"Don't call him Eater!" Abbie scolded. "Call him… What should we call him? Lachlan?"

James laughed at this statement, as he stood on tiptoe to peer out of the bared window near the room's roof.

"Don't call him Lachlan either! Call him Bob, because he doesn't like that name. That's the only reason Courtney calls him that!" he exclaimed.

The next three minutes were spent with the three children trying to find an escape. Albus kept reminding them that, even if they did find an escape route, they would have to rescue Courtney first, and then escape.

"Wait," said James suddenly, "I've got a plan. But we'll have to be quick about it. Hurry and help me out!"

* * *

Eater and Scorpius trooped up the creaking stairs, talking to each other. They were both quite excited about being allowed to use the Cruciatus curse on the prisoners.

"I suppose," Scorpius observed, "That they'll all be running for their lives. We'd better shut the door when we go in. Then they'll have no escape. It will be more fun to torture them that way: three kids trying to escape through that crack of a window, screaming for their lives. All they'll care about will be being safe! Hahahaha!" Scorpius laughed heartily: he sincerely thought that the torturing of children would be fun.

"I want to torture the Potter kid. The little one. I want to see him _scream_!" Eater eagerly told Scorpius as they made their way across the landing.

"No fair! Okay, then I get the little girl," Scorpius decided. Really, he shouldn't have called Abbie 'little', as she was the same age as Scorpius. All the same, Scorpius felt powerful and superior when he spoke about someone as little.

The two boys looked at each other. Neither wanted to take on James, but neither wanted to admit that they were scared of him. James was, after all, a year older than Eater and two years older than Scorpius. James was wandless, as were Albus and Abbie, but Eater and Scorpius still felt intimidated by him. Eater and Scorpius had not made a decision of who would torture James by the time they reached the door to the prisoner's room.

Eater noisily kicked open the wooden door, his wand at the ready. Scorpius took out his wand, too, and aimed it at Abbie, remembering to push the door closed behind him.

"Dad gave us permission to practice our wandwork on you. We've gotten pretty good at the Cruciatus curse by now! So. Who wants to go first?" Eater asked, in a voice that could have belonged to an excited Death Eater. He pointed his wand towards Albus's heart.

Then, something happened that neither Scorpius nor Eater could have imagined. James, who had been standing in a corner, his hands in his jacket pockets, jerked up so he was facing Eater. Then, with two large steps, he crossed the room and stood in front of Albus and Abbie.

"You'll have to take me before you even think of touching them."

Scorpius blinked, and looked at Eater, who was looking just as bewildered. James would rather be tortured than escape? Then, Eater started laughing.

"As if we care about you trying to protect your little friends! You're defenseless, _wandless_! We don't care who we torture first. Now step aside." When Eater started talking, he had been laughing, humoring James's foolishness. As Eater spoke the last three words, his voice had dropped to a menacing whisper.

James shook his head and spread out his arms, as though this would stop Eater from torturing his brother and Abbie.

Abbie and Albus looked at each other from behind James. This was not part of the plan. James was not meant to do this! They had known that, to rescue Courtney from Voldemort's wrath, they may have to allow Eater or Scorpius to torture them. James must have either forgotten the plan, which was very unlikely, or he was protecting the younger Gryffindors for some other reason…

Suddenly, a memory flashed through Albus's head. In the memory, a ten-year old James, an eight-year old Albus, and a seven-year old Lily were playing in a large room. James was lying, apparently dead, on the floor, while Lily was standing, her arms outstretched, in front of a sofa.

"Don't kill him, don't kill him!" Lily was shrieking, holding back giggles.

Albus then waved an imaginary wand and yelled in an ominous tone, "Stand aside, silly girl! Stand aside!"

Then the memory-James began laughing, showing that he was merely faking death.

"James Potter, shut up! I thought I just killed you?" Albus seriously spoke, making Lily giggle even harder.

Then, a Harry who looked younger by a few years ran into the large room shouting, "What in Merlin's name are you playing?"

"Ah, it's the boy! I must kill him before he kills me!" Albus yelled, his serious voice cracked with laughter. "I am Lord Voldemort!"

The real, eleven-year old Albus did not like to think about what happened next. He had gotten into a lot of trouble for pretending to be Voldemort, and for pretending to kill James. Albus remembered all the times that he, his brother and his sister had acted out the time Harry's parents had died. They always got into heaps of trouble.

But now, here was James, his arms outstretched, acting just like Harry's mother had the night she had died. The night Lord Voldemort had tried, and failed, to kill Harry Potter. Was he deliberately acting like Lily Potter, or was he acting on instinct?

Then, Abbie noticed something. She nudged Albus and muttered something to him. Albus grinned. Their plan was about to come into action…

Scorpius had just handed James's wand to Eater, so he had two wands. Scorpius took Albus and Abbie's wands from his pocket, weighed them in his hand, and chose Albus's. The two Slytherins felt very powerful now that they had two wands, and they liked that a lot.

"James, the plan!" Abbie muttered to James, who was still intent on protecting the two younger kids behind him.

"They're going to torture you, Abbie! The plan won't work, I need to keep you safe-" James stopped mid-sentence. He had noticed his wand, in the tight grasp of Eater, and grinned. The plan _was_ going to work!

"Hey, what are you grinning at? I'm about to torture you!" Eater yelled angrily at James, who kept on grinning.

"What, with my own wand? Haven't you studied wandlore?" James asked, elated that he knew something Eater didn't.

"Wandlore? No I haven't studied-" Eater looked at Scorpius for help. He didn't like James knowing more than he did. Scorpius looked just as outraged as Eater felt.

"Well that's good, because I haven't studied it either," James said light-heartedly, "But I _do_ know what will happen if you try to attack me with my own wand. Yes, if my calculations are correct, that is still my wand that you are holding because you didn't _win_ it off me. Understand? No, I can tell you don't by that ugly look of confusion on your faces. Well, you don't want to try and attack me with my own wand. It's very dangerous." This last sentence wasn't entirely true: James's wand would most likely crack if Eater tried to torture James with it.

Eater and Scorpius were very angry now. They had been in this room for almost ten minutes, and they still hadn't tortured one person! It was time for action.

James was very happy now. His plan was working so well! Eater and Scorpius had been in the room for almost ten minutes, and they still hadn't tortured anyone! It was time for the real action to begin…

Then, two things happened at the same time. James dived towards Eater at the same time Scorpius shouted, "Crucio!"

Eater got knocked backwards be the force of James landing on top of him. James somehow managed to wrestle his wand out of Eaters grasp, before stunning him.

Meanwhile, there was a loud _bang_ as Scorpius's curse missed Abbie by a millimetre, and hit the wall behind her. A few of the wooden planks in the wall broke away.

James, who now had his wand back and was looking triumphant, raised it before Scorpius could say another word and exclaimed, " _Expecto Patronum_!"

Albus's eyes widened with wonder, and Abbie held in a breath. Scorpius looked terrified that James might be able to do magic that he couldn't. Eater lay silent, still stunned.

All eyes were upon James's wand, as a silvery something poured out from the end and-

Vanished.

"HA! Good one, Potter! You can't even produce a Patronus!" Scorpius shrieked, laughing at James's expression of hopelessness.

"But I did it just how Dad said…" James murmured to no one in particular, looking really depressed as he stared at his wand.

"Come on, James! Try again! You can do it!" exclaimed Albus, his eyes still filled with wonder even after his brother had failed.

"Al, I can't do it. I just failed," James sighed. Albus stared.

"Don't be an idiot! Expecto Patronum! _Expecto Patronum!_ " Albus exclaimed, trying the spell for himself. His results were no better than James's, but he kept trying nevertheless.

James stared at his younger brother, trying the spell over and over again, doing worse each time, but still trying. James squared his shoulders and announced, " _EXPECTO PATRONUM!_ "

This time, Scorpius didn't laugh. Abbie let out her breath and whooped, and Albus shouted, "Yes, YES!"

A silvery stag erupted from the end of James's wand, similar to the one that so often leaped from the end of Harry Potter's wand, as the talented man entertained his three young children.

James's stag, however, was smaller than Harry's, its antlers shorter and less branched-out.

"I-I did it! I did it! Right, um…" James flicked his wand up and his small stag leapt straight over the dumbstruck Scorpius's head and bounded off down the hall.

"Argh!" Yelled Scorpius, realising properly for the first time that he was alone with the prisoners.

"Hand over the wands. _Now!_ " James held out a hand, pointing his own wand at Scorpius.

"No! I can't do that! He'll… he'll punish me!" Scorpius whimpered, his eyes wide and scared, like the eyes of a little child.

"Hand them over."

"No!"

" _Hand them over!_ " James shouted. There was a bang from downstairs. Someone had heard their commotion.

Terrified, moving slower than a snail, Scorpius put Abbie and Albus's wands on James's outstretched hand. James looked down on the Slytherin in front of him. Scorpius was, compared to James, really short. His face was pointed and his blonde hair resembled his father's exactly. The only element of him that was not his father's were his eyes. They were not grey, but a bright blue. James felt a huge sense of satisfaction, influencing Scorpius the way he was.

As James closed his hand around the two wands, still glaring into Scorpius's eyes, a terrible scream ripped through the air. At first, Abbie wildly thought it was Courtney, but then, after listening closer, she realised it must be Voldemort, for the scream was not that of an eleven-year old girl's. Scorpius, still under the strong gaze of James, began backing away. Soon, he was running off down the hall, probably searching for his father so he could go back to the castle. James watched him go curiously, then muttered, "Courtney should come soon."

"Tell me again," Abbie started, "Why does Courtney have to come to us? Why can't we go out and find her?"

James shook his head, "Gee, Abbie, I thought you were cleverer than that! Do you really think that we could just go wandering through the Shrieking Shack, pushing open every door as we look for Courtney, with the high chance that we could bump into Bellatrix or Voldemort on the way? When I sent my Patronus to Courtney, I sent a message, too. I told her which room we are in, and that we have an escape plan. She should be able to find the time to come and help us… I just hope that that scream wasn't over anything too bad…"

* * *

The man's hand clenched around the thin stick of wood. The wand had worked well for him, as it had been made with great care, made just for him. No other wizard or witch had ever touched this wand, which was why it felt so powerful in his hand. No, it did not feel as powerful as his wand of Yew, of which he had used so many years ago, but this man was not a professional wand maker, and his wand did have its faults. However, he had studied wandlore for many years, and became most knowledgeable in the subject. So knowledgeable that he was able to make a wand himself.

Now, though, for the first time since he had created his wand, it failed him. Why was it that wands always failed him? The wand of Yew had not been powerful enough and couldn't defeat the wand of Holly. The wand of Elder was never truly his, and couldn't work for him. But this wand? His very own wand of Blackthorn wood and Dragon Heartstring core? This wand should work, it always had done, and it always should. But now… Now, as he attempted a simple curse that he had performed countless times with this very wand, his wand was failing him.

And not only was his wand failing him, but so was his own daughter. There she was, standing gleefully in front of him, not a trace of fear on her face. Her deep, hazel eyes stared right into her father's cold ones. The smirk that presented itself on her face made the man scream, long and loud. It was an awful scream, filled with furious hate.

Lord Voldemort was angry.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked hearing more about Scorpius and Eater, as well as Voldemort and Bellatrix. I really struggle writing the things Voldemort says so they sound Voldemort-ish and evil. If anyone has ideas on how I could improve in how I make Voldemort speak, please review and tell me. If I really like the idea, I'll update this chapter and use your feedback.**

 **Colin Creevy still hasn't figured out how to travel back in time to his own time, so he's selling more photos. Review and maybe you'll get a special edition Hogwarts photo!**

 **To each and every person who took the time to read this (whether you enjoyed it or not) thanks so much! It means a lot to me when I see that someone else has read my fanfic. Please take the time to review if you can!**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns :)**


	11. The Plan

**A/N: School holidays are over:( So I probably wont have as much time to write now. But at the moment, school work is quite easy and I'm finishing rather early, so who knows? I might be able to update a chapter next week... Anyways, thanks to PebbleKitty(whose review make me laugh) and Elektra Elentari (whose reviews are really kind) for reviewing my last chapter. This chapter's a bit short, so sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere with this fanfic, because interesting things are actually starting to happen. Like now VOLDEMORT is featuring! (If anyone is good at writing in Voldemort's POV, or about Voldemort in general, please PM me because I really need help with that. I think he doesn't seem evil enough in this fanfic.)**

 **These Author Notes are getting way too long. I'll let you read now;)**

 _ **Chapter Eleven:**_

 ** _The Plan_**

 _It worked… It worked! After all these months of practicing and failing, it finally worked!_

Courtney grinned as she slid out of her window and onto the small balcony below. The balcony was barely big enough for her to stand on without being in danger of falling off and onto the hard ground below. Courtney knew she wouldn't fall, however: she had practiced this stunt thousands of times before.

Courtney thought about the silver stag ( _more of a fawn, actually,_ Courtney decided) that had bounded past Voldemort, as he walked hurriedly down the hall only minutes before. The fawn had leaped into Courtney's tiny bedroom, and spoken in James's voice:

 _"We're in the room that's like a cell, at the end of the corridor, directly above the lounge room. I have a plan of escape. I'm sure you can manage to get out of your room unnoticed, so meet us in this cell-like room."_

James certainly was right, Courtney always had a way to escape from her room unnoticed. In the past, neither Voldemort nor Bellatrix had ever been able to find out how Courtney had gotten out of her room without using the door. Bellatrix always placed a dozen spells on Courtney's room's door, so the girl 'couldn't get out'. Well, Voldemort and Bellatrix never thought about the window that was the perfect size for Courtney to slip through. They never thought of it because they never saw it: Courtney had learnt how to perform a Vanishing charm as soon as she bought her textbooks from Diagon Alley, and placed the charm on the window in her bedroom. Perfect!

There was a large, dusty window that was set into the hallway's wall directly in front of Courtney's balcony, and a metre or two away from her bedroom window. She decided to enter this window, creep down the hallway, and into the room her friends were in. James's plan better be good, otherwise Courtney would have to think up a different plan in about two seconds. Even now, as she clung to a wooden planke on the outside wall of the Shrieking Shack, at least six metres away from the ground, Voldemort would have found out about the event that had occurred in the prisoner's room, involving Eater and Scorpius probably. Courtney would have to act fast…

Though this thought was not encouraging, Courtney couldn't help but smile. After all these month of practice, failure, and torture she had finally succeeded! How Voldemort had screamed! And now, unless he wanted to kill her, (which he certainly did not) Voldemort could barely harm his daughter at all.

Courtney shivered with excitement as she reached out toward the window ledge with her left hand. She was now only being supported by a wobbly, insecure plank beneath her feet and a large, rusting metal nail that was protruding out of the wall, which she held tightly with her right hand. Courtney could feel the plank under her feet start to crack. She would have to be very fast, and careful, if she was going to make it to the window ledge without falling. She was now holding onto the nail so tightly that it was cutting into her hand. Courtney could feel her blood trickle down her arm as the nail dug deeper into her wounded hand. She bit her lip, trying to concentrate on her outstretched left hand through the pain of her right hand. Pieces of rubble and wood were starting to fall from the narrow plank that had so far supported almost all of her weight for at least a minute. Courtney just had to reach out a little farther and grab onto that window ledge… Why couldn't her arms be ten centimetres longer?

Courtney leaned forwards and took hold of the window ledge just as the plank crumbled. She swung her bleeding right hand up and took hold of the window ledge (although this was very painful for her hand), so she had a firmer grip on the ledge. Using all her arm muscles, Courtney pulled herself up so she was sitting on the ledge. With a triumphant, "Ha!" Courtney pulled open the window with her good hand and jumped in, her feet making an annoyingly loud _thump_ on the dusty floor beneath her.

Wrapping her right hand in a fold of her robes to try to stop the blood flow, Courtney crept as quickly as she dared along the hallway. Every time she passed a door that was open ajar, or that had light creeping out of it, she would stop and listen for any noises. Eventually, she became so nervous that she turned into her huge panther form. As the black panther, she was much quieter and quicker, though the fur on her front right paw was matted with blood and hurt to put weight on.

When Courtney finally reached the room at the end of the hall, she was worried that she might be too late, and that Voldemort had already dealt with her friends. Scared about what she might see, Courtney changed back into her human form and silently pushed open the door.

Courtney's heart leaped with happiness, and she sighed with relief when she saw James, Albus and Abbie all safely in the room.

"Courtney! You're alright!" Abbie exclaimed, looking pleasantly surprised. "We were worried you hadn't gotten James's message because you had taken so long. We heard this terrible scream and we were worried it was you, but then James said it sounded like Voldemort, so that was okay, but-oh, _what_ have you _done_ to yourself?" Abbie looked, horrified, at Courtney's robe sleeve, which was covered in crimson blood, as well as her hand.

"Abbie. Let the girl breathe, won't you?" Albus exasperatedly stated, rolling his eyes.

"Don't worry, Abbie, I'm okay. Let's just concentrate on getting out of here," Courtney reassured Abbie. She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she twirled her long, black plait in the fingers of her left hand. She just couldn't stop thinking about her achievement! She couldn't wait to tell her friends about it, but first they would have to get out of this ludicrous Shack and away from the wizard and witch who lived there.

"Okay, so here's the plan," James started. "We've tied together a bunch of these. Actually, all of them. We're going to tie them around the bars of that window. Then, we all work together to pull down the bars, and climb through. Simple, and effective." James grinned as he spoke the last three words, speaking as though he was a business man, trying to sell an object to someone.

Courtney nodded slowly. "That should work. I've just got one question. What _are_ they?" she asked, pointing to the long, rat tail-like rope in James's hand.

James's grin grew larger as he importantly announced, "These, my friend, are Extendible Ears! Uncle George makes them, and Cousin Fred gave a few to me. Well, a lot to me…"

Before Courtney could answer, Albus stepped forward, the frown on his face making him look like the exact opposite of James, who was still grinning like a maniac.

"I know there are four of us, but we're mostly only first years. _How in Merlin's name_ are we going to pull down those _metal_ bars, and _why_ can't we just use _magic_?" Albus enquired, indicating the old bars on the window.

"Ah, little brother, it appears that you have not picked up on the ingeniousness of my plan!"

"Stop showing off and tell Albus the 'ingeniousness', if that's even a word ***** , of your plan!" Abbie exclaimed, her patience wearing thin as their time continued to tick away.

"Yeah, fine. So, have a closer look at the bars. They are rusted, old, and crumbling slightly. I don't even believe they're made of real metal. It should be a piece of cake to pull them down!" James happily explained. "And we can't use magic because it would make a really loud noise, and Voldemort is probably after us as we speak, so _hurry up!_ "

As their time passed, the four children wrapped the Extendible Ear rope around two of the bars, holding the other end of the rope in their hands. The job of pulling down the bars soon showed to be a lot more difficult than James had expected, and it was clear that the bars _were_ made of real metal. Courtney was not much help, as her right hand was completely useless, unless she wanted to bleed to death.

After almost ten minutes, however, they managed to pull down the bars. They may well have used magic, for as the metal bars hit the ground of the shack they made an awful, echoing _clang-g-g-g-g_ noise.

A shout came from a room in the shack not too far away.

"Okay, everybody through!" James said, dropping his voice to a whisper so they wouldn't be heard. This tactic was useless though, as it was clear that Voldemort, or Bellatrix, had already heard their prisoners' commotion.

Abbie, Albus and Courtney all clambered onto James's back (one at a time) and onto the window ledge, where they began the long and relentless descent down the wall of the house, grabbing onto protruding planks and nails to prevent themselves from falling. James, who was quite a lot taller than the other three, managed to get out of the window himself.

Courtney led them down the wall of the house, which she had climbed and descended many times before. The other three found it greatly harder than Courtney, because none of them had ever climbed down a house before.

They jumped to the ground about a metre above it, landing heavily on the grass. Without waiting to catch their breath, the crept hurriedly around the shack until they had a view of Hogwarts in the distance. There was no chance of them getting back into the Shrieking Shack to sneak through the secret passage, so they started at a run towards the distant castle.

They didn't stop, nor turn around until they reached the fence that separated Hogsmead to the Shrieking Shack's land. Then, they all paused, panting for a short while. Courtney re-wrapped her right hand in a part of her robe that wasn't blood-stained, and then, they ran through Hogsmead Village. James knew the way back to Hogwarts, as he had been to Hogsmead many times before with Fred. Courtney, Albus and Abbie, however, had never been to the village and had to slow down a bit.

It seemed like hours before they reached Hogwarts. When they did, without even consulting each other first, they made their way to McGonagall's office. Though what she could do against Lord Voldemort, who had beaten death itself, none of them knew.

Voldemort threw open the door to the prisoners' room, muttering angry curses about Scorpius Malfoy, the first year who had failed to tell Lord Voldemort that the prisoners were escaping. As if he did not have enough on his plate as it was! First, his wand disobeying him, second, Death's escape from her room, third, Scorpius's lack of faithfulness, and now his valuable prisoners had escaped. With the help of Death, most likely.

Scorpius would be punished, of course. He had been weak. Eater would be punished, too, for giving in to that Potter boy's strength. Voldemort clenched his fists. He felt like killing! He felt like murdering all the inhabitants of Hogsmead, of Hogwarts, of this very Shack! But he would have to restrain himself. The time would come soon. Soon, he would get his revenge…

 ***Ingeniousness is actually a word if anyone wanted to know. :)**

 **A/N: Another cliffie, muahahaha! I'm forcing everyone to wait another chapter before all their questions (if they have any) are answered!**

 **Please review! It makes me feel so happy to know that people are actually reading and enjoying my story. Also, any questions/suggestions are welcome as always. If there is a character who is not in this so far who you'd like to see, I'll try and add them:) (I know that the Weasley family is very big and there are barely any Weasleys in this fanfic, so...).**

 **I'll try to update soon, though I can't promise anything.**

 **Charlotte of Sandydowns! :)**


	12. Evidence

**A/N: Yay, I found time to update! I actually wrote this chapter a few days ago, but I've been REALLY busy. Last week I had only one day where I had time to write, and I had no time on the weekend at all... Oh well. Here's the chapter, and I'm really happy with it! I hope you all enjoy reading it, because I put a lot of work into it.**

 _ **Chapter Twelve:**_

 _ **Evidence**_

Ginny Potter, wife of Harry Potter and mother of three, was sitting on her comfy sofa in front of the fire, reading a book about Quidditch. She missed the sport, and half wished that she could go back to being on a professional Quidditch team. However, with Lily still at home, she could not.

Ginny looked up from her book and over at Lily, who was staring out of a window, her eyes out of focus. Ginny sighed. Ever since September the first, when Albus had left for Hogwarts, Lily had been like this: staring out of the window, barely doing anything, and not talking as much as she usually did. Lily missed her brothers a lot, even if she wouldn't admit it. Ginny put down her book and walked over to her nine-year old daughter.

"Hey. Lily. Let's do something together! Let's find something to do and have some fun!" Ginny encouraged, holding out her hand to the small, red-haired girl. Lily looked up and, with nothing else to do, took her mother's hand.

"Okay…"

Ginny led Lily into the kitchen, the idea of cooking something sweet in her mind. However, when she and her child entered the room, they found a grey, scruffy owl perched behind the glass of the window over the sink. It was persistently tapping the glass, wanting entrance into the house. A letter was tied firmly to its leg.

When Ginny noticed the owl, her mind was instantly filled with worry. For it was James's owl that sat on the window sill. James almost never wrote to his parents now that he was in his third year of Hogwarts. Something must be wrong…

When Lily saw her brother's owl, she was suddenly filled with glee. What better way to make her feel better than reading a letter with her brother's handwriting on it? She couldn't wait to get that window open!

Lily ran forwards and let the owl in. It fluffed its feathers and held up its leg that had the letter tied to it. After the owl had been released from the letter and received an owl treat from Lily, it took flight out of the window.

Ginny read the letter quickly as she walked back into the lounge room, all thoughts of cooking wiped from her mind. When she finished the letter, she fell down onto the couch she previously had been sitting on and covered her eyes with her hand.

Lily tried to take the letter out of her mother's firm grip, but Ginny didn't let her child read it. Instead, she whispered, "Lily, sweetheart. Something terrible has happened. You have to go upstairs to your room and get all your most precious and favourite possessions. Then you must come straight back down here, and we will run from this house."

Lily looked at her mother strangely. "But Mummy! I like it here, I don't want to leave! Why do we have to leave?" she whined.

"It's not a matter of whether or not we like it here, Lily. We must leave. Your brothers and Dad are in great danger. We have to get out of here." Ginny urged Lily towards the stairs, but Lily still had questions.

"What is it Mummy? What did that letter say? Please tell me!"

Ginny looked into her youngest's face, and considered for a moment. Then, with a slight shake in her voice, Ginny said, "Voldemort has returned."

* * *

McGonagall paced up and down her office, three tired and terrified children standing in front of her. One of them was a girl with long dark hair, blood stained robes, and black fur stuck to her bleeding hand. One of them was a tall third year, with messy black hair and hazel eyes. He looked very tired, and had something that looked like a rat's tail falling out of his pocket. The last boy was short, and tremendously familiar-looking to McGonagall. As soon as he had come to Hogwarts she knew he must be Harry Potter's son, for he looked near identical to his father when he had been a Hogwarts Student.

Finally, the Headmistress turned to the three and said, "Thank you very much for informing me of this disastrous reappearance of You-Know-Who. Honestly, I don't know how it can be true, but there are others who are wiser than me who can perhaps give us some insight on the matter. Professor Dumbledore."

McGonagall turned to the elegant golden frame behind her. The frame accommodated a painting of an old man, with half-moon spectacles, twinkling blue eyes, and a long white beard. As his name was spoken he looked up and said quietly, "I do have something to say in the matter, Minerva…"

McGonagall watched the painting expectantly. Then, Dumbledore spoke again.

"I believe it is possible that Lord Voldemort could have had… another Horcrux. An accidental one. The only person, apart from Voldemort himself, who may have evidence of this is… ah, that would be Harry Potter."

"Another Horcrux?"

"Evidence?"

"Dad?"

Courtney, James and Albus looked at each other, confusion written on each of their faces. The fact that Courtney didn't know about this other Horcrux confused James and Albus even more, and they looked at each other, deep lines etched into their foreheads.

"Then, we must contact Harry immediately," McGonagall observed. "James, will you go and get him?"

James instantly hurried out of the room.

"By now, all of the staff should have received my Patronous about You-Know-Who's return. Harry should, too, know about this turn in events. Professor Dumbledore, what other thoughts do you have? Should the school be closed? Should children be sent home?" McGonagall once again looked to the old Headmaster.

"May I make a suggestion, Headmistress?"

All eyes turned to a painting hung to the right and a little down from Dumbledore's painting. The man in this painting was wearing black robes, had sallow skin, and greasy black hair that framed his face.

"Professor Snape. Of course," McGonagall stated, neither harshly nor warmly. It was well known that Harry Potter had wished to hang a portrait of Severus Snape in the Headmistress's office. McGonagall still had not completely warmed to the bat-like man sitting in a frame behind her.

"If You-Know-Who is back, then, naturally, we should close this school. However, I-"

"That is enough, Severus. We will let Minerva decide, for she is the current Headmistress," Dumbledore spoke in a clear, but stern voice from his frame, eyeing Snape curiously. Courtney nervously shifted her position.

"You three," McGonagall took a step towards the three first-years in front of her. "Please go back to your dormitories. You, along with your fellow students, will be informed when a decision has been made. You will not, I hope, notify the other Gryffindors of You-Know-Who's return. You will leave _that_ to me. Now, go."

Without a word, Albus, Abbie and Courtney left the office, and walked slowly back to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Harry Potter knocked on the headmistress's door, his son James at his side. James was trying to look anywhere but his dad, worried about what he might hear when he entered the office. Harry was shaking with worry, thinking about his wife and only daughter who were hopefully escaping the country.

The door opened, and McGonagall ushered them in. As soon as she noticed James, she shooed him away, telling him to go back to his common room. James, annoyed but obedient, left.

James hurried down the empty corridors that would be filling up with students in a few hours, heading down to breakfast, unaware that the most powerful dark wizard was only a few kilometres away.

When James reached the portrait hole, he found Courtney, Albus and Abbie standing there. Albus had just said the password, and they were about to climb through.

"Dad's with McGonagall," James informed them. "I wasn't allowed to stay in."

"Yeah, and we aren't allowed to tell any other students that we have a dark wizard on the loose!" Abbie exclaimed, annoyed at McGonagall's decision.

James shrugged as he walked towards the stairs of the boys' dormitories. He turned around to Courtney and grinned, even though there was nothing happy about their situation.

"At least you have an extremely interesting story to tell Rose and Nicole, and the other Gryffindors, Courtney!"

Courtney smiled slightly and nodded. Then, after a few seconds pause, she stepped forward and exclaimed, "Wait!" before James could make it up the stairs.

"Please-please don't tell anyone else about my past… yet."

Albus looked over at Courtney, confused. "But you have nothing to fear! Everyone knows how nice you are, so does it really matter who your parents are?"

Courtney urgently shook her head, "Please don't tell anyone until I'm ready for them to know!"

"Okay, Courtney…"

"Another Horcrux… But how? And how is Voldemort alive? And how is Bellatrix alive?" Harry had so many questions buzzing through his mind, he could barely think.

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore believes that You-Know-Who made another Horcrux, but by accident. There is only one piece of evidence that we know of, that could prove this, so Professor Dumbledore tells me," McGonagall agitatedly explained.

"You are quite right, Minerva," Dumbledore piped up from his frame. "Harry, many years ago, when you were a seventeen year-old wizard, you were hunting down Voldemort's Horcruxes, correct?"

"Y-yes," Harry stammered in reply.

"And, for a small amount of that time, you were staying in number twelve, Grimmauld Place?"

"I was."

"And, if I am not much mistaken, you entered Sirius Black's bedroom, and found a scrap of paper from a letter that your mother had written to Sirius when you were a baby?"

"H-how did you know that?" Harry exclaimed.

Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling their electric blue. "Not much gets past me, Harry. Now. The letter. _Do you still have it_?"

Harry stared at Dumbledore's painting for a few seconds, then replied, "Of course."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Would it be a problem if you could get it for me?"

Confused, Harry took a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He had taken to carrying it around in his pocket ever since he had lost his pouch to keep it in.

In a shaking voice, Harry began to read aloud for Dumbledore. He felt tears spring into his eyes, but tried his best to hold them back. When Harry started reading, Dumbledore leaned forward, listening intently.

" _Dear Padfoot,_

 _Thank you, thank you for Harry's birthday present! It was his favourite by far. One year old, and already zooming along on a toy broomstick, he looked so pleased with himself, I'm enclosing a picture so you can see. You know, it only rises about two feet off the ground, and he nearly killed the cat and he smashed-"_

"That is quite enough, thank you Harry."

Harry looked up, confused, as Dumbledore spoke.

"But that isn't all of the letter!"

"I am aware of that. Unfortunately, you only needed to read that first, short part of your mother's letter for my suspicions to be proved correct."

"I don't understand."

Dumbledore's voice rose slightly as he said, "You had a cat! A cat! The night Voldemort killed your parents, you were the only living thing for his soul to latch onto. Think Harry! What does that mean?"

McGonagall gasped, as she worked out what Dumbledore was saying. Harry stared at the old man in his frame, as he realised what the old professor was talking about.

"The cat is a living thing, so why didn't Voldemort's soul latch onto it instead of me?" Harry slowly asked.

"The cat was already a Horcrux! When Voldemort killed your father, he accidentally made a Horcrux, his soul latching onto your cat!" Dumbledore shouted. Harry fell into a chair and covered his face in his hands. Voldemort had never truly been dead.

* * *

Lily felt like vomiting. She had never done side-along apparition before! The young girl swayed on the spot, and clung to her mother's hand.

They were standing on what appeared to be a beach. The sand was white, and the sky was dark. It was still very early in the morning.

"Mummy?" she whispered, "Where are we?"

Ginny looked down at her daughter and replied, "We will stay at Bill and Fleur's for a while. We won't be able to stay long, though. I'll inform them of Voldemort's return, and then we might stay for a day or two. Then we'll move on."

Lily still felt very confused, and had many questions that she wished to ask. How could Voldemort be back? Where was he? Were her brothers and Dad in danger? Would she be able to go to Hogwarts? Was her whole family going to die? Would she be able to see her cousin Louis? To Lily, the innocent nine year-old that she was, the last question was most important and she voiced it to her mother.

"Mummy, will I be able to see Louis? Will he be at Shell Cottage?"

Ginny couldn't help but smile at the prospect of seeing her brother and sister-in-law.

"I think you will, Lily."

Lily beamed. "That's good, because I haven't seen him in ages!"

Ginny nodded absent-mindedly, as she walked down the sandy beach, towards a pretty little house atop a hill. "Yeah… ages?"

When they reached the house, Ginny knocked on the door of Shell Cottage. A tall man with scars on his face opened the door. His red hair was untidy, and he wore long, black robes. When he saw Ginny and Lily, his face split into a grin.

"Ginny! Lily! What a surprise! Come in, come in! Where are the rest of your family?" Bill Weasley joyously asked, opening the door a little wider to let his guests in.

"Harry and the boys aren't here today. Listen, I've got some urgent news to tell you of. Dreadful, and unbelievable," Ginny whispered to her brother, leading Lily into the welcoming house.

Bill called for his wife, Fleur, before sitting down on a sofa. Ginny followed suit.

"Lily," Bill addressed the small girl, "You can go and play with Louis. He'll enjoy your company! He's been quite lonely since the girls left for Hogwarts."

Happily, though with a shade of worry in her eyes, Lily skipped off to find her cousin.

Fleur gracefully waltzed into the room and asked, "What eez it, Bill?"

"Ginny and Lily are here. They have something to tell us," Bill gravely answered.

Ginny nodded and sighed. "Indeed I do…"

Meanwhile, Lily sat laughing with her blonde cousin, Louis. They were telling each other in detail about what they had been doing since they had last seen each other. Little did they know, as they sat there laughing, in their own world of peace and happiness, in a faraway castle, a young girl sat awake in her bed. She was thinking of so many different things that her head hurt. That day had been very eventful, and terrible. However, despite all of the anger and hate in the girl's mind, she smiled. The pain had been worth it. She had made the greatest achievement any eleven year-old had ever accomplished!

 **A/N: There you have it. I hope you don't mind how choppy it was, jumping between the different characters... By the way, the idea of Voldemort's Horcrux being the Potter's cat was not originally my idea. I got it from an image on the internet. Anyway, as always I'll try to update soon. :)**

 **~Charlotte of Sandydowns (:**


	13. The Speech and Achievement

**A/N: Helooo! How are all my lovely readers? I finally found the time to write another chapter! Yippee! I was hoping to write some in the holidays, but after going away frantically trying to learn drama lines, and extra dance classes that didn't happen. So I basically just wrote half a chapter in one sitting. :P I had to do a lot of thinking while writing this chapter, and I worked really hard, trying to make it sound good. I hope you enjoy reading it!**

 **Thank you for being patient... :)**

 _ **Chapter Thirteen:**_

 _ **The Speech and Achievement**_

The next morning, Rose and Nicole were panicking in the Gryffindor common room. Nobody had told them whether or not James, Abbie and Albus had returned from their escapade of following Courtney. When the threesome did come down the stairs of their dormitories, yawning and exhausted, Nicole let out a squeal and flung her arms around them.

"Thank goodness you're okay! Rose and I were worrying so much and we don't know anything that happened to you, and you look exhausted, how long where you out for?" she exclaimed in about one breath as she hugged her friends.

"Calm down! Albus huffed, attempting to push Nicole off him.

"I'm sorry, we were just so worried!" admitted Nicole.

"Let's get some breakfast," Rose suggested, "And you can tell us everything that happened."

Reluctantly, they agreed. They all knew that they were not allowed to let slip anything about Voldemort being alive and active. McGonagall had said so. However, it would be very hard to tell the frantic Nicole and curious Rose what had happened the night before without revealing Voldemort's return. Or Bellatrix's, for she, too, was meant to be dead.

When she entered the Great Hall, Abbie noticed Courtney sitting at the Gryffindor table, reading a book while she was eating. Her face had a look of deep concentration on it, though whether this was an act or not Abbie couldn't tell. She also noticed Bob sitting at the Slytherin table. When Abbie, James, Albus, Nicole and Rose had entered the Great Hall, his eyes instantly flicked up from his breakfast and he stared hard at them. His eyes narrowed, and Abbie felt awfully uncomfortable under his fierce gaze.

Even when Courtney's friends sat next to her and greeted her, Courtney didn't take her eyes off the book she was reading.

"Morning, Courtney!" Albus cheerfully greeted as he piled bacon high onto his bread-free plate.

"Mm?" Courtney replied, her eyes whizzing along the page of the book in front of her nose. Abbie leaned forward and read the title.

"Advanced curses, counter curses, and enchantments," Abbie read aloud. "Courtney, do you really expect to be able to do this stuff? It's advanced! And you're only a first year."

For the first time, Courtney looked at Abbie and vaguely said, "I can do more than you might expect."

Abbie didn't really understand what Courtney was saying, but she guessed that, being the daughter of two of the most powerful people in the world, her magical skills must be very strong…

"Alright. Abbie, Albus, James, Courtney. I want to hear the full story of what happened last night. Where you ended up going, and why you took so long," Rose instructed. Courtney looked at Rose for a full ten seconds before saying, "Some things can't be told."

Rose snorted. "Why are you being so suspicious all of a sudden? You are going to tell us before classes start, otherwise I'll tell McGonagall that you've been sneaking out of bed."

Of course, this threat meant nothing to any of the students who had snuck out the night before. McGonagall already knew that they had snuck off, knew more than Rose and Nicole did. However, they didn't want their two friends getting even more suspicious.

"We'll tell you everything later. We promise," James reluctantly reconciled.

Rose and Nicole unwillingly accepted.

* * *

After breakfast, Abbie, Albus and Courtney had a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. They sat down at their desks, talking quietly about various subjects, though not daring to speak about their adventures last night.

When Scorpius and a group of other Slytherins came in, Abbie, Albus and Courtney fell silent and watched him suspiciously. He didn't so much as glance their way, however, and sat at the other end of the classroom.

The class turned out to be very enjoyable. It was a practical lesson, and Harry moved the desks aside so his students could practice their spells on life-sized and cloaked human models. Everyone was mildly surprised when Courtney knocked over one of the models with one flick of her wand and an exclamation of, "Expeliarmus!" on her first try. The class room was suddenly filled with a round of applause from the other Gryffindor's and Courtney, blushing slightly, muttered, "It wasn't that special…"

Albus was annoyed when, by the time he knocked over the model, no one clapped for him. (Except for Abbie and Courtney, of course.) The Slytherins just laughed.

* * *

That evening at dinner time, Rose and Nicole still hadn't heard about what had happened the previous night, and they were getting very suspicious. After the meal ended, Professor McGonagall stood up and all eyes were drawn to her, students and teachers alike.

McGonagall began to speak, her voice echoing around the Great Hall, bouncing off the walls like an incantation that had been shot the wrong way.

These were her words: "I think that, at this moment, you are all feeling content, with full bellies and a drowsiness creeping over you. However I must ask of you two things: one is that you stay here a little longer, and two is that you'll listen to me carefully, and without falling asleep on the table." The faintest of smiles flickered over McGonagall's face before she continued, "The matter I am going to talk to you about is very serious, and I need your fullest attention. Before I tell you this serious news, I am going to tell you a quick story about something that happened last night…

"Here is the event that occurred: four students of this school snuck out of bed last night."

Nicole and Rose abruptly glanced at Albus, James, Courtney and Abbie. "Don't tell me-?" Rose began, but Albus cut her off: "Shut up."

McGonagall continued: "These three students found themselves at the old building at the edge of Hogsmead: the Shrieking Shack. They entered this Shack, had a series of adventures which you do not need to know about, and found some valuable information which I myself did not believe when I heard it. However, some evidence was found and I was forced to believe that what they had told me was true. Here is what they said: He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned once more."

The response in the Great Hall was immediate. Some students roared their disbelief or outrage, the sound so sudden that it was like a tidal wave. Most students whispered among themselves, discussing whether this news could possibly be true. Their whispers soon grew louder, sounding like a swarm of bees out to catch someone. A few of the Slytherins, including Scorpius and Bob, feigned surprise, for they already knew that Voldemort had returned. Several students just sat there gaping at McGonagall, their mouths wide open like a gasping fish-out-of-water. A few of the students who believed McGonagall let out high-pitched screams, almost piercing enough to smash windows. The general reaction was confusion. However there were four Gryffindors who didn't look surprised at all, and didn't bother pretending to be.

These students were, of course, Albus, Abbie, Courtney and James.

Once again, McGonagall's voice echoed throughout the hall, louder than the roars and screams, louder than a hundred whispering voices.

"Silence! As I said, evidence has been given so that I am certain that this is true. And stop your shouting! If anything, it will only bring You-Know-Who _to_ us!"

The noise instantly died down, however a Hufflepuff girl could be heard sobbing pitifully onto her friend's shoulder, turning to tears at the thought of Voldemort returning.

"I don't want you panicking," McGonagall instructed. "I hope that the school will not have to be closed, however if You-Know-Who decided to make a move and advances upon the school… I'm afraid, and I'm sure all the teachers here agree, you will have to be sent home, and the school must be closed. I hope you understand. These are now dangerous times, and so all trips to Hogsmead will be cancelled, and you mustn't wander the corridors alone, or at all without permission from a teacher. Students should be in their common room by seven o'clock, and not leave it in the morning before breakfast. All Quidditch trials, lessons, and matches this year will be supervised by either myself or another teacher. If you have any questions, or are feeling insecure, please feel free to come to my office. Now you may go to bed, with something in your minds to think about."

The majority of the students, the ones who never wished to get into trouble, and the ones who didn't want to disobey their Headmistress, stood up. Their chairs scraped across the ground before they began to exit the hall. However some students, the curious and outraged ones, as well as the disbelieving ones, stayed where they were sitting. These students included Nicole, Rose, and (because they didn't want to look to suspicious) Abbie, James, Courtney and Albus.

A fifth-year Gryffindor boy at the end of the table stood up and bellowed, "Is that all? You tell us You-Know-Who is back, and then just send us off to bed?"

Cries of agreement filled the hall of a moment, before another boy, a Ravenclaw, stood up to join the first boy screaming, "Yeah! We can't just go off to bed, knowing that the most powerful wizard is planning to attack us! We want to fight!"

With that, more than half the remaining students in the hall began to chant:

 _"We want to fight, fight, fight, fight! Fight, fight, fight, fight!"_

This time, Harry Potter stood up, and silenced the roaring students.

"The time for fighting may come, but now is the time for bed! You will listen to your Headmistress and all will return to your dormitories. We will talk more of the matter tomorrow, I expect. Now go!"

Now, the students (reluctantly) listened and retreated from the Great Hall.

As soon as they had begun making their way up the spiraling, marble staircase, Nicole and Rose turned on their four friends who had snuck out the night before.

" _Why_ didn't you tell us? Is this true? Is… is _he_ really back? How is it possible? What exactly happened last night?" Rose snapped, glaring at the other kids, even Nicole.

Sighing, looking as though her world was falling apart (which it almost was, with her secret no longer _secret_ ) Courtney murmured, "We'll tell you everything… in the common room."

"Well you'd better," Rose spun around and began clumping up the stairs once more, "You'd better."

So it was that Nicole and Rose sat in the warm common room in two of the most comfortable chairs listening to one of the most peculiar stories they had ever heard. James, Abbie and Albus sat there too, listening to the story that they had already heard (and were, partially, in). Courtney stood in the center of them, her face red not only because of the warm fire crackling behind her, but also because she felt ashamed to be telling the story of how she had grown up living with Voldemort and Bellatrix.

When she reached the part of the story where she was climbing out of her window (Abbie, Albus and James were listening curiously to this part, because they hadn't heard it yet), Courtney paused and smiled, remembering something else that she hadn't told her friends yet.

Deciding that she would wait until after the story had been told to tell them, Courtney continued, acting as though the story hadn't been interrupted by her smile.

When the story had been told, Nicole and Rose sat there for a full minute, just gazing at Courtney with confusing.

Finally, Nicole spoke. "So you're telling me," she began skeptically, "That you were brought up by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and one of his most loyal Death Eaters?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying. I'm glad that McGonagall made that announcement about Voldemort coming back to life, otherwise I'm sure neither of you would have believed me…" Courtney's sentence had not been finished, but she was cut short by James. He suddenly sat up straighter, and made an exclamation of understanding.

"What is it?" asked Albus, looking at his brother with confusion.

"Well," James smugly turned to Albus, "Of course, a little shrimp like you wouldn't pick up on such an _obvious_ thing like this…"

Glaring right back at James, Albus grumbled, " _Don't_ call me a shrimp." Then, as an afterthought: " _Idiot._ "

Detecting that an argument was starting, Nicole enquired, "What did you pick up on James?"

Now, James turned to Nicole. "I always thought that Bob, or Lachlan, or whatever, was renamed Eater because he's so fat and eats a lot. But now, I reconsider. They renamed Courtney Death didn't they? Well, _I_ thought that was because _they_ thought that _Courtney_ was going to be the _Death_ of _them_. But, put it together: Death, and Eater. Death Eater. _Death Eater!_ "

There was silence for a few moments, while James grinned as though he had a master mind.

Then, Albus said tentatively spoke: "James… I think we all worked that out a while ago."

They all nodded, save Courtney, making the grin slip off James's face.

"Well," he stammered, "Of course you did. I was just… testing you. Yeah, testing you. Seeing how smart your brains are!" James laughed unconvincingly.

"Look, I've got something to tell you," said Courtney, breaking the silence as though it was glass.

"I've made an achievement. One that I made last night, while you guys were locked up." She indicated towards Albus, Abbie and James. "I've been working towards this achievement for several years, ever since Voldemort and Bellatrix started punishing my disobedience with the Cruciatous and Imperius Curses."

"WHAT?" exclaimed James and Albus at the same time. As their father was a part-time Auror, they knew all about the three unforgivable curses. The Cruciatous Curse, made for torturing the opponent, was one of the worst.

"They used the Cruciatous Curse on you?" Abbie whispered, sounding terrified and sad.

Rose and Nicole looked at each other, horror struck.

"Yes they did. But as I was saying, I've made an achievement. No one can hurt me that way anymore." Courtney decided to get straight to the point: "I've figured out how to become immune to the Cruciatous Curse and the Imperius Curse. Nobody, not even Voldemort and Bellatrix, can use them on me now."

"Okay, hold up!" James held up his hands as though he was a police man, "I've heard of people, such as Dad, who can fight the Imperius Curse, but the Cruciatous Curse?" He sounded only slightly disbelieving. He was starting to learn that anything was possible when Courtney was involved.

"Yes. And Voldemort discovered this last night when he tried to use Crucio on me. He knows that it is impossible for him to torture me. Well, there are other ways he could get at me, but Crucio is the worst." Courtney confirmed with a nod.

With her achievement revealed, Courtney felt relaxed. She also felt very tired. "Listen, guys, I'm going to bed now. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

The next few weeks seemed to go by very quickly. Most students talked constantly about Voldemort's return over the next few days. When all the possible points of how Voldemort returned had been exhausted, ideas began to get crazy.

"Maybe he's an animagus!" A Gryffindor whose name Abbie thought was Jaclyn but Albus thought was Jennifer. "He never actually died!" The girl enthusiastically told a group of interested first-years.

"As if," muttered James.

As the weeks until Halloween began to lessen, older students began to talk of other things, mostly what kind of pranks they could use on the teachers at the Halloween Feast.

When James began talking about hexing a bunch of bats so that they would swoop down on Professor Malfoy and attack him, nobody believed he was serious. That is, until he came back from the library one afternoon with a large book under his arm titled, ' _How to Train Magical Beasts and Animals'_.

On the night of Halloween, the Great Hall was decorated magnificently. Large pumpkins (grown by Hagrid) hung from the ceiling, filled with light which shone through the creepy faces that were carved into them. The live bats (which James wanted to jinx) fluttered around near the Enchanted Ceiling, which showed a dark, starry night. Once the students and teachers were seated, the House ghosts flew in through the windows and settled themselves down at their table. Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor, stationed himself next to Albus. For the first time in a few weeks, everyone in the Great Hall was at least mostly content and happy.

It was good, Professor McGonagall thought, that even in the darkest times, her students could let go of their fears and celebrate together. If only the world didn't have so much evil in it.

But if the world was completely peaceful, the Headmistress though, her eyes wandering over to Courtney West, some people would not be as wise, or as brave, because they'd have nothing to stand up to.

* * *

Scorpius Malfoy sat next to Eater, gazing out of one of the Great Hall's windows. He could see Hogsmead from here. How long would he have to keep up the act of being innocent? Scorpius wondered what Eater was thinking, and how he could be so calm in such a confusing time.

Maybe Eater was just acting, as well.


	14. The Most Skilled

**A/N: *WARNING! VERY VERY SHORT CHAPTER!* Yeah, it's only 720 words long... But I had to write a kind of bridge before future chapters that I'm finally starting to plan. Anyway, I think I might get to update more often now because start-of-term school work is really easy.**

 **I hope you enjoy the chapter, thank you to everyone who reads or reviews: I really appreciate it!**

 _ **Chapter Fourteen:**_

 _ **The Most Skilled**_

It was the week after Halloween, and most of the houses in London had pulled down their decorations and packed away their costumes. The children of London had no sweets from Trick-or-Treating left, which is why Allie Baxter and her brother Toby went out to buy some more.

Allie was nine years old, and very grown up (in her opinion). After all, she only had one more year to wait until her age was double digits! Allie had blonde hair that she wore in two messy plaits, grey-blue eyes, and a sweet smile. Her smile was deceiving: she was very mischievous.

Toby was only four, and did everything his sister did. He couldn't wait to go to school and learn how to read and write! Toby had a habit of sucking his thumb.

As the two children were walking to the sweets shop, (which was only a few blocks away) they came across an old woman. She looked like a stereotypical witch: long fingers, a black cape, long grey hair, a wart on her chin.

Both children thought that this was a costume, after all, Halloween had been only last week!

How wrong they were…

The woman was holding a rusted plate. It had what looked like large yellow sweets on it.

Curiously, Allie and Toby walked over to the old woman. After all, sweets were all they wanted, and they might get a bargain from this woman.

The woman grinned, showing pointed, yellowing teeth, a few of which were missing. She offered the plate to the children, her cracked lips twisting. Allie and Toby both took one of the sweets instantly, happy that they were for free.

They both took large bites of the ' _sweets'_.

They didn't recognise the sweets to be infiltrated with a strong Bloodroot potion. Of course they didn't. They were only Muggles, after all…

As soon as both the children had fallen, mouths open in a soundless scream, the witch vanished into thin air with a loud crack.

Within minutes, people were at the scene. Most of them were from the Muggle newspaper, people who desperately wanted a story that they could make sound even more terrible than it was.

They wouldn't have to try to make _this_ story terrible.

There were a few people who were not Muggles.

Some of the Wizards were from the Daily Prophet, the Wizarding newspaper.

Some of them were Healers from Saint Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies.

Photos were taken, and the children were taken to Saint Mungo's. Even if they were Muggles, they needed care from the Healers. They had clearly been poisoned by a magical potion.

There was, however, no sign of who had caused this damage. Not a footprint in the grass, not a torn scrap of cloth in the brambles.

The Muggles were very confused. It wasn't as though the culprit vanished into thin air!

The Wizards and Witches, however, thought that was the most likely possibility.

It was now impossible to find who had attacked the two Muggle children. All the Wizards and Witches knew was that it had been someone magical, and that they had disapparated away.

* * *

Meanwhile, the culprit of the crime, the witch, stood on the side of a cliff, gazing down at the thrashing water beneath the crumbling rock.

Her destination, the cave, was only a metre behind her.

Only the most skilled Wizards or Witches could have spotted the cave.

Only the most skilled Wizards or Witches could have reached it.

This witch was one of those few.

She gazed at the dark water for a long time, before turning towards the dark cave. She entered it.

It was dark, very dark, inside the cave. She only knew how small the cave was because she stretched out both her arms and felt the rough walls under her fingers. It was so dark, in fact, that she couldn't see her hand in front of her face.

All she could see were two red eyes, staring at her through the dark. They never blinked.

A black cat crawled out of the darkness, its green eyes flashing. It circled the witch's leg fondly, its tail curling around her. She kicked it away. There was no time for greetings.

She looked at that pair of eyes again.

How… _pleased_ he would be.


	15. Treason

**A/N: I've been doing a lot of thinking ahead with this story and so now I'm eager to get to second year. Because of that I've been writing a lot of plans for future chapters/ Next Generation books and not much of this chapter. So it took me a while to write. Also, my laptop malfunctioned and deleted half of my chapter, which I had to re-write. Anyway, now I'm on HOLIDAYS! So that means no school and lots of writing! Hopefully. If you've got any ideas or suggestions for this chapter please Review and tell me, even if it's just a random little thing, I'll probably try to put it in a future chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Fifteen:**

 **Treason**

The owl soared into the Great Hall in the second week of November, landing in front of Rose. It dropped a newspaper for her, before holding out a pouch that was attached to its leg. Rose put in a Sickle, and then picked up the newspaper. When she looked at the front cover, Rose gasped loudly. Instantly, Albus and Courtney, who were sitting on either side of her, leaned in, trying to read what had happened.

"Oh goodness…" whispered Rose, her eyes speeding along the page.

"What?" asked Nicole, "What happened?"

Rose read the paper aloud,

 _"On the seventh of November, in London, two Muggle children, who are known to be nine and four years old, were found poisoned in an alleyway._

 _Healers from Saint Mungo's Hospital recognised symptoms of a strong Bloodroot potion on the children, and quickly took them to the hospital."_

"Bloodroot potion?" Abbie asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's a deadly poison" Courtney replied quietly. "Read on, Rose."

 _"It is not known who attacked them or when, though it is believed that the culprit was a follower of You-Know-Who, the murdered Dark Lord._

 _'There is no need to fear,' Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, assures the Daily Prophet readers, 'We at the Ministry will not let the culprit stay unknown.'_

 _A dozen Aurors-including top Auror, Ariel Whisp, will be on the trail of the witch or wizard who poisoned the children."_

"Oh that's awful!" Nicole exclaimed, "How could something like this happen right under the nose of the Ministry?"

"Anything can happen these days," Albus said, "And besides, Ariel Whisp - she's the head of the Auror office! Dad has worked with her before and she's amazing at catching Dark wizards and witches. With her in charge, they'll catch the culprit in no time!"

"I hope so," Nicole murmured, playing nervously with her bowl of Pixie Puffs. "It sounds as if they don't have much information to go on."

* * *

Later that day, after their classes, Abbie, Albus, Rose and Courtney were sitting under a large tree, studying. James was there too, apparently studying as well. However really he was just doodling unflattering cartoons of the teachers on his parchment. Nicole was a few metres away, talking to her sister. They didn't get to see each other that much, because Nicole's sister – Helena - was so much older. Helena was also in Ravenclaw, which meant they sat at different House tables. Helena was very protective of Nicole, and now that Voldemort had been sighted near Hogwarts, she was even more worried that harm may come to her sister.

James sighed contentedly, looking dramatically over the Black Lake waters.

"What is it?" Rose asked, annoyed that he was distracting them from their studies.

"Tomorrow's Saturday." James observed simply.

"Yup." Rose stated, continuing her studying.

James stared at them, mouth hanging open. "You guys! It's Saturday tomorrow! Do you not know what that means?!"

"It means it's the weekend," Albus muttered, violently scribbling out the last few sentences he had written of his essay, before scrunching the page up and throwing it into the lake. "Which means no school."

"You are clueless! It means more than no school!" James exclaimed, "It means Quidditch! The Quidditch season starts tomorrow!"

"Oooooh, Quidditch. That's right, you're on the team, aren't you?" Courtney asked, sounding only mildly interested.

"Yes that's right and so is Rose and Nicole!" James explained, obviously extremely overly excited.

"It starts tomorrow? Wow I completely forgot!" Rose exclaimed happily. "Do you know who we're against for our first match?"

James though for a second, before replying, "Probably Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. They don't like jumping straight into Gryffindor versus Slytherin because of the rivalry. It's more fun to postpone that till later on."

Albus snorted, "That's not true, is it?"

James shrugged. He honestly didn't know if that was how it worked, but he thought it was a good idea.

* * *

For most of the remaining part of the day, Albus Abbie and Courtney spent avoiding James. He had been talking nonstop about Quidditch, and his Quidditch skills, and his Quidditch broom, and the Quidditch games that he had played in. It was getting very tiresome. Secretly, Courtney couldn't wait for the practice tomorrow to finish so James would shut up. Although Nicole and Rose loved Quidditch, they weren't obsessed with it, and besides they didn't constantly talk about how great at the sport they were.

Saturdays used to be the day that students in their third year or older were allowed to go to Hogsmead. However, now that Voldemort had been discovered to live in the Shrieking Shack, none of the students were allowed in the village.

However it seemed that two students forgot this rule as they slipped out of the castle at four in the morning of the Saturday.

These students crept past Hogsmead, past the stile at the end of the path, and over the green hills beyond that. Not one person in Hogsmead heard, or saw them. That's because they weren't above ground.

The two students pulled themselves out of a hole in the ground, and found themselves in an old, falling apart shack. They didn't seem surprised by this, as they had been in the shack hundreds of times before. The larger of the two students looked to the smaller, skinnier one and gave a nod of consent. Then they walked purposefully into a side room, the smaller of the two trembling only slightly.

The room they entered had a warm fireplace on one wall, and a long, wooden table in the centre. Several figures sat at the table. The larger student had no eyes for any of them but one as he strolled straight to the end of the table. The smaller student's eyes flicked to each of the people at the table except the one on the end, however he followed the other boy.

When they reached the end of the table, the man sitting there looked at them with red eyes. His skin was white and his nose was snakelike. He wore black robes that fell to below his bare feet. His long fingered hands rested on the table. A wand, which looked far more decorative than the usual wand, was sitting between his hands.

The man's name was Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort spoke, his voice cold as marble and hard as steel, "Eater, Scorpius. You made it. What news do you bring from Hogwarts?"

The smaller of the two boys, Scorpius, was pale. He looked at his feet, terrified to speak, yet frightened to stay silent. Luckily, Eater, the larger boy, spoke up.

"We have bad news My Lord. An act of treason."

Everyone sitting at the table looked up at those words.

"Treason?" Voldemort asked, " _Treason?_ " He repeated, bellowing the word around the room.

"Yes, My Lord."

"Who would dare betray the Dark Lord? The most powerful wizard ever? Who would dare show disloyalty to Lord Voldemort, knowing what the consequences would be?" Voldemort angrily yelled. "Who, Scorpius? Answer me!"

Scorpius jumped slightly, but looked at Voldemort in the eye, whispering, "Courtney."

"What did you say?" Voldemort asked, his voice still louder than normal. Scorpius couldn't tell if the wizard really hadn't heard what he had said, or was annoyed at hearing the name 'Courtney'.

Scorpius redeemed himself, "D-Death was the one who-who committed treason. M-My Lord."

"What did she do this time?" yelled a woman at the table.

"She told them! Everyone at Hogwarts – the teachers, the students - they all know!"

* * *

Voldemort had never felt angrier. With a yell, he pointed his wand at a rat, which ran across the floor in fear. Running didn't help it, however, when the green light hit it and it fell, dead.

That didn't help Voldemort's anger subside, however. He wanted to see pain, to see death, to _kill_ someone. To hear their screams as they clawed for air. To make them _pay_ for living. For getting in his way.

He wondered if there would ever be another Chosen One, another puny kid who he could track down and kill. Someone he could hate and always be looking for.

He didn't have anyone to fight. Potter was grown, and out of his reach for the time being. Dumbledore was gone, never to return. Snape was gone, thanks to Voldemort. He didn't regret killing him, he had always been a traitor.

Just like Death. He should never have taken her as his daughter. Not even as his slave.

Eater was obedient, at least. He would become a good soldier for Voldemort's army. Scorpius, he wasn't quite sure of. He was obedient, he did anything Voldemort wanted him to. But Voldemort couldn't be sure if that was out of loyalty or fear. Either way, he was a good spy. He would stay for a bit longer, at least. He seemed to be a cruel bully at Hogwarts, but when he was in the Shrieking Shack, he often seemed like a weak little kid who was terrified of everything.

Maybe Voldemort needed a vacation. Maybe he needed to track down Potter and kill him once and for all.

Maybe he should target Potter's wife. Or daughter. That would make him either weak, or angry and reckless. Either way, he would be easy to kill. Voldemort was much more powerful now, after all. He could take down a young, underaged witch and her mother quickly, and though that may reveal that he was alive, it would be worth it.

Oh. That's right. Death already told all of Hogwarts that he had returned. But that didn't matter for now. McGonagall hadn't told anyone, apart from student's families, about his return yet. So if he chose to make an attack on the Potter girl and her mother, the whole wizarding world would know and it would be back to the old days: magical families locking themselves in their houses, students being pulled out of Hogwarts, chains of trust broken, betrayal everywhere you go. Ah, how good it would feel to be feared again! Feared by all except the army that he was building up. The soldiers would be all the best Dark wizards and witches, and the children would be trained to fight. They wouldn't be death eaters anymore, they would be Night Hunters, Dark Catchers, and Blood Spillers. They would be more powerful, more loyal, and far better than the death eaters were. All of the Night Hunters would be animagus, trained to hunt down the rebels and kill them, or torture them. All the Dark Catchers would be trained in the skills of Dark magic, and then they would set out, finding new wizards and witches to recruit. And the Blood Spillers. The Blood Spillers would be the soldiers. They would be the ones to fight in battle against the rebels, the enemies. They would be the ones who Voldemort trusted the most, who were the most loyal, and who would be the most passionate in the most Darkest Arts.

He must set off. He would head for the Potter's house first, and if they have fled, that would be good news. For it would mean that they fear him.

Voldemort swept his cloak around him and disappeared with a crack. He left no sign that he had been there in the first place, and told no one that he had gone, or was going to go.

He found himself in an open countryside. He cast an invisibility spell on himself, and set off on his way.

For the first time in nineteen years, he felt he had a purpose. He had something to work towards, and someone to kill.

He came into the town that the Potters supposedly lived. A few eager families already had their Christmas decorations up. Voldemort ignored these and made his way towards the house.

It was a large house for a large family. The front garden showed signs that rowdy children lived there, as the flowers were trampled. Brooms were propped up against one wall of the house. Voldemort overlooked all this. He walked straight over to the door and blew it open.

The house was empty.

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Also, if you think you know who the witch and the red eyes from the last chapter are, please review an tell me your thoughts! :D Thanks again, I really appreciate everyone who reads this fanfic. It makes me feel so happy to receive reviews (Thanks PebbleKitty and Elektra Elektrari :) Sorry if I spelled your names wrong.). It makes me happy just to know there are people out there who like my writing :)**

 **See you in the next chapter!**


	16. Quidditch and Cancellations

**A/N: Hello! Sorry it's been a while. I had to re-write parts of this chapter.**

 **I'll reply to reviews after the chapter ;)**

 _ **Chapter Sixteen:**_

 _ **Quidditch and Cancellations**_

"Alright team! Into positions, now!"

Gryffindor's Quidditch Team Captain, Horace McKilton, yelled at his team. He was desperately trying to get them all into the Quidditch mood again, and so far the only member of the team who was showing, perhaps a little too much enthusiasm was James Potter. At one point, he threw the Quaffle so hard and so far that it almost hit Roxanne Weasley from the other end of the Pitch. Roxanne, luckily, was a Beater and managed to hit the ball away from herself. Though she was small in size, she was very strong.

Closer to the ground, Roxanne's twin, Fred, was practicing his reflexes. Horace, who was a Beater, was using his bat to whack a ping-pong ball at Fred, who would try to catch it. Fred was the Seeker of the team, and although he was extremely good at it, Horace said he could never have too much practice.

Further up in the sky, the Chasers had started their own Quidditch game against imaginary Slytherins.

"Nicole!" called Rose, "Quick!"

Nicole readied herself, as Rose threw the Quaffle at her. Nicole caught it and flew towards the goal posts. The stands on either side of her blurred as she sped up.

"Watch out for that Beater!" James yelled at her, pointing to a spot in midair where he imagined an angry Beater hovering.

 _Dang,_ Nicole thought, chucking the large red ball towards James. _Why does he always have to make the goals?_

As James threw the ball at one of the three goal posts, the Keeper, Chloe Wood, came zooming towards the Quaffle and caught it.

"Aw! That's not fair! You're on our team," James complained to the sixth year girl.

Chloe shrugged, grinning. Her dad had been an excellent Keeper back in his day at Hogwarts, and had been incredible when he played for the Puddlemere United Quidditch team. Chloe had a lot of his talent.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Courtney, Abbie and Albus watched the training with interest. Courtney was still trying to understand how the game worked, when they saw a figure crossing the grass towards the Quidditch Pitch. The figure sat down in the stands on the opposite side to Abbie, Albus and Courtney.

"Hey, that's Scorpius," Courtney muttered, peering over at the boy.

"So it is!" Albus exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"

Abbie shrugged. "Whatever he's here for, it can't be good, can it?"

"Nope," Courtney replied.

As the training continued, Scorpius took out a note book and began writing something.

"What the – he's taking notes!" Courtney gasped, pointing towards Scorpius.

"Let's just ignore him," Abbie decided, "He's probably just doing school work or something."

Courtney and Albus agreed, though neither of them were too sure.

At the end of the practice, Scorpius left before any of the players could notice that he had been there.

Courtney watched him leave, suspicious of where he was going. She wasn't going to follow him and risk being caught, but all the same she wondered what had made him spend a few hours at the Quidditch pitch, watching a Gryffindor practice, and where was he going now?

Scorpius hurried into the castle of Hogwarts, proud of his work. He headed straight to his Father's office, excited to tell him what he had learned.

He entered the Potions Master's office after knocking. At the table in the middle of the dark room sat Draco Malfoy. He was going through some essays that his students had written.

Draco looked up when Scorpius entered. He smiled, which was rare for anyone to see, except Scorpius. Even his wife, Astoria, barely saw his smile.

That's because Draco hardly had any reasons to smile. The world was dangerous and cruel. There was barely any happiness left in it.

"Scorpius," he said, "What is it?" He sounded slightly worried as he spoke those last words.

"Look, Dad!" Scorpius exclaimed, an almost sinister smirk twisting his face as he handed over the note book.

Draco flicked through it, his eyes widening.

"I went to the Gryffindor Quidditch practice," Scorpius told his father proudly.

"Did you?" Draco breathed, shocked and delighted in his son's work. "And you got all of this information? You have far exceeded my expectations. Good work. They won't be able to say no to this!" He handed the note book back to Scorpius, who was now looking very smug.

"They'll have to take me! They won't have a choice!"

"That's right," Draco assured Scorpius. "Now off you go, enjoy your weekend."

Scorpius complied, hurrying out of the office. Finally. Finally he would be praised for something! He wouldn't have to worry about anything. After all, his father would not have to find out. Nobody would. He would be able to continue the act of innocence.

But… He was innocent, wasn't he? Scorpius pushed that thought away. He could never be innocent not now. He would always be guilty of a crime that would be his burden to carry, for the rest of his life, most likely.

Draco Malfoy watched his son leave thoughtfully. Something was wrong. Scorpius seemed to have two selves: sometimes he was quiet, though proud and ready to stand up for what he believed in. However, sometimes he was mean, overly competitive, and, quite simply, a class bully. Draco didn't know what to think sometimes. At home, his son was no different: he was sometimes loud and rowdy, spending hours outside on his broom, other times he spent hours in his bedroom, doing who knows what. When he was like that, Draco worried about him. He thought there was something burdening his son, and he was not planning on telling his father. Draco decided to give Scorpius some time. Draco didn't want his son to think that he was worrying about the boy. But some nights, Draco would go looking for Scorpius, and he wouldn't be able to find him anywhere.

Something was wrong, and Draco wanted to find out.

Scorpius hurried to his dormitory, feeling happy that his father had complimented his work.

 _'You have far exceeded my expectations. Good work. They won't be able to say no to this!'_

Scorpius grinned, playing back the conversation.

 _'They'll have to take me! They won't have a choice!'_

He desperately hoped that was true. If it wasn't, he'd let himself down. More importantly, he'd let his father down. Making his father proud of him was all Scorpius really cared about.

 _Then why did you do it?_ He thought, _why did you do it, when you know Dad wouldn't want you to?_

But it didn't matter what his Dad would or wouldn't think, because Draco wouldn't need to know. And it wasn't Scorpius's intention to tell him.

Scorpius entered the Slytherin common room, the fact that it was almost empty making him feel relieved.

The common room was filled with an almost eerie green light. One wall of it was see-through, and the dark, fish-filled water of the Black Lake could be seen through it. Sometimes, the Slytherins would see the Giant Squid out there. The water could be beautiful, but they saw it all year. They never got a view of the snow-capped mountains in winter or the clear, blue sky in summer.

A fireplace burned under an old, ornate mantelpiece. The shape of a snake was emblazed into the mantelpiece. Dark armchairs and tables were dotted around the common room.

Scorpius liked the common room, but right now he just wanted to be alone in his dormitory. So he headed up the stairs to his room. He sat on his bed, pulled the curtains around him, and took out the same notebook whose contents he had shown his father.

He opened the notebook to a particular page. The page was filled with messy sketches, hurriedly drawn diagrams, and cramped, though clumsy writing. Arrows from the text pointed towards different points on the diagrams. The notes and scribbles went on for at least three pages, and each page was headed with a different title. Scorpius smirked smugly as he read over he notes he had carefully taken. He had done well, his father had said. If that was what he thought, then surely others would think that, too.

He would finally be known for something _great_.

After reading the notes several more times, Scorpius decided he wanted company. He headed down to the common room, and within seconds, Eater was standing in front of him.

"Eater!" Scorpius exclaimed, surprised to see him.

"Tonight is cancelled," Eater murmured, his voice so soft it was barely audible.

"What?" whispered Scorpius, "How come? Has something gone wrong?"

Eater shook his head, "Not exactly… Dad's disappeared."

Scorpius stared, not believing what he was hearing.

"You mean he's gone? He just… disappeared?"

"Yup. No one knows where he is or when he left. But I think I know what's happened."

Scorpius looked around the nearly empty room. There were a couple of third-years playing Exploding Snap in the corner, and a few other students trying to study over the constant explosions.

"Let's go."

Eater pulled Scorpius out of the Common Room, and into the place where they always had their private conversations.

Eater took a breath before telling Scorpius his suspicions.

"I think Dad's gone to fulfill the plan."

Scorpius blinked, confused. "But… We already are doing that. Is he too-?" Scorpius had been about to say 'impatient', but he thought that might be taken offensively.

"I think," Eater began, ignoring his friend's unfinished sentence, "That he wants to get the plan working faster."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gone to the Potter's house."

"Wha-?" That made no sense to Scorpius. "All the Potter kids are at Hogwarts, aren't they?"

Eater shook his head solemnly. "Not all of them."

Courtney stared at Scorpius, who was standing uncomfortably in front of her. "What?!" Courtney asked.

It was dinner time, and Courtney was sitting with Albus and Abbie at the Gryffindor table. Scorpius had come over to tell Courtney something, but he didn't seem to want Abbie and Albus to hear what he was going to say.

"Tonight's cancelled," he finally repeated.

"Tonight? But – Why?" Courtney asked. She seemed to understand what Scorpius was talking about.

The Slytherin boy glared at her. "For unforeseen reasons," he barked angrily, before stalking off to the Slytherin table. Courtney watched him go suspiciously.

"What was he talking about?" Abbie asked, totally confused.

"Oh," Courtney said, looking at Abbie, "Um, there was a meeting at the Shrieking Shack tonight. Obviously it's been cancelled."

"Wait wait wait wait wait wait wait!" Albus unnecessarily repeated the word, "You were going to go back to the Shrieking Shack? I mean, if the meeting wasn't cancelled?"

Courtney nodded, "I would have had to. Just because everyone now knows that Voldemort is alive again doesn't stop me from being his daughter, from having to go to his meetings and serving him!" Courtney sighed, and continued, "But that doesn't mean that I can't hate every stupid second of it!"

Abbie placed a reassuring hand on Courtney's shoulder. "Don't worry," she said, "We understand."

Courtney shook her head in response. "But you don't. You can't. You've never been through this, you've got _no idea_ what it's like to live with the most dangerous wizard in the whole world! You've never been treated the way I have, or seen the things I have. And you should be very glad for that."

None of her friends had an answer for that, so none of them gave one. However they did look at each other, lost for words and not daring to sympathize with Courtney further, lest she fired up at them.

The rest of dinner in the Great Hall was spent with silence stretching between Abbie, Albus and Courtney. The latter left the long Gryffindor table earlier than anyone else, saying that she was tired from the long day.

Scorpius watched as Courtney left the Hall. He hated the girl: she was so disobedient, reckless, and… annoying.

She probably thought the same about Scorpius. He had always been obedient to Voldemort, but scared of him, too. Courtney most likely saw that fear in him.

Scorpius looked over at Eater, who was sitting next to him. The larger boy grinned, and Scorpius returned the smirk. Eater was in on Scorpius's plan, and he supported it thoroughly. _It will be an excellent way for us to gain popularity_ , Eater thought. _It will be a good way to take my mind off things, and also to show off to those Potter kids,_ Scorpius thought. The boy glanced up at his father, who was talking to Professor McGonagall. Scorpius smirked once again, and felt truly happy. _It will all start tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll show those Gryffindors!_

And the very next morning, he did.

He went with Eater down to the Quidditch Pitch early. Eater was armed with his broomstick, and Scorpius with his notebook. Scorpius showed Eater everything written in that little notebook, and even the second year had been impressed. Now it was time to practice.

Scorpius took an old broom from the broom shed, and mounted it, flying up into the air to join Eater. Eater was one of the two Beaters on the Slytherin Quidditch team, and he was very good at it. Scorpius was not part of the team, though hopefully in a few hours that would change.

Who cared that he was only a first year? He had the talent – and the strategy – needed to be a Quidditch player. Everyone agreed with that: his father, his mother, Eater… Now the team captain would have to agree as well.

If they didn't… It would be their own loss.

 **A/N:**

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